


Voltron Legendary Finale: Season 8

by Kelticmoon



Series: Voltron Legendary Ultimate Finale [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M, Multi, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-06
Updated: 2020-10-01
Packaged: 2021-03-06 15:22:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 84,824
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26311096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kelticmoon/pseuds/Kelticmoon
Summary: This is a redo of my Legendary Fix-it Series. Much of this version is the same as my Fix-it Series, however this version doesn't rely on my other works. New scenes have been added, some scenes have been moved around to make more sense, while some have been removed entirely for better pacing (also, there's less swearing). The core of the story is still the same so all of your favorite scenes are still here, and the events happen as they did before.  Also, this one won't have the critiques at the end.If when I've finished fans like this enough to petition for Dreamworks to hire me to re-write the end of Voltron Legendary Defender, you have my blessing to do so. I am but a humble nobody writing fanfiction.
Relationships: Allura/Lance (Voltron), Hunk/Shay (Voltron), Keith/Shiro (Voltron), Pidge | Katie Holt/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Voltron Legendary Ultimate Finale [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1911748
Comments: 10
Kudos: 30





	1. Varadero Beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Team Voltron visit Lance's family in Cuba.

Shiro stands before a briefing room full of Coalition members.

“Everyone! Welcome to our final briefing here on Earth. It’s been several months since we began to rebuild, and next week we launch and continue our liberation efforts across all planets still under Galra rule.”

He turns to look at Sam Holt sitting beside Pidge.

“Commander Holt, what’s the latest from your team?”

“We’ve confirmed that there’s still no Galra activity within several galaxies of the Milky Way,” Sam says. “It appears Earth was Sendak’s only target.”

Shiro turns to Keith sitting immediately beside him.

“Keith, where are we with Earth’s defenses?”

“I’ve finished my check-in with all the Garrison facilities across the globe. All defenses are up and running. Earth has everything in place to keep itself safe.”

Shiro's eyes soften a little.

“Great!”

He turns to Veronica standing behind him.

“And Atlas preparations?”

“Repairs and modifications to the IGF-Atlas were completed early last week,” Veronica tells him, “and it has since passed every test protocol we’ve put it through.”

“Good.”

Shiro turns to Allura.

“Any updates on the Altean pilot?”

“Still unresponsive,” Allura informs him. “But she could wake any day now. Hopefully she will awaken before we leave.”

“Even if she doesn’t, we can’t wait any longer,” Keith tells Allura gently before turning back to Shiro. “We need to get back out there and end this war before the Galra can reorganize.”

“Keith’s right,” Shiro tells Allura sympathetically. “We’ll be in constant communication with Earth so if she doesn’t wake up before we leave, they’ll let us know when she does.”

Shiro turns back to the room full of people.

“I have one more item to discuss. It’s our last week on Earth and we’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us. We may not be back home for months, possibly years. So I’m ordering you…” Shiro smiles then. “To take some time for yourselves. Be with the ones you love. You’ve earned it.”

~

“You want us to go to the beach?” Keith asks with a raised eyebrow from beside Shiro as the six of them and Romelle walk out of the briefing room together.

“For a few nights, yeah!” Lance exclaims excitedly. “Not just any beach either! Varadero Beach! We've all been going pretty hard lately so I’d like to invite you all to come stay for awhile! I mean, come on, guys! We’ve been fighting this war longer than anyone else here! We almost died! Hell, Shiro _actually_ died! We deserve time at the beach!”

“Lance’s right, guys,” Hunk says. “It’s our last week on Earth! We should live a little and have fun.”

“Oh it’ll be great! We can go to the beach, surf, I can show you around town, and there's even a Cultural Festival tomorrow night. You can even try my mom’s garlic knots!”

Lance gets a starry look in his eyes.

“They’re amazing!”

“You had me at food!” Hunk states. “I’m in.”

Keith shrugs.

"Be nice to see a beach before we leave," Keith admits.

“I would prefer staying here,” Allura states hesitantly.

“Allura, I know you are worried about Luca,” Romelle tells her. “So am I. But it would do us both some good to have a little fun.”

“Romelle’s right, Allura,” Shiro tells her. “If it helps, Coran will remain here and keep us updated.”

Allura gives Shiro a sly look.

“Alright, I will go… if you go as well.”

Shiro blinks.

“Uh… I'm supposed to be overseeing preparations for the launch…” Shiro begins.

“Look Mister Workaholic,” Lance says firmly. “You're coming if we have to hogtie you to the roof-racks!"

“Lance is right, Shiro,” Keith adds. “If any of us here deserves a vacation, it’s you. You’re no good to anyone if you’re overworked and exhausted.”

“Yeah man, that speech you gave about earning a week to relax includes you too,” Hunk joins in.

“A wise person once told me it is good to know when to step away for a while,” Allura tells him.

“Please!” Romelle adds.

Shiro smiles as the others all close ranks against him.

“Alright, I admit it. A trip to the beach would be kinda fun,” Shiro concedes.

“Yes!”

“I’d love to go too but I’m still grounded until after the launch…” Pidge pouts.

Romelle and Allura stare at Pidge in confusion.

“I wasn’t aware humans could float,” Romelle says.

“No, being grounded means she's being punished,” Lance explains.

“It means I’m not allowed to leave the base without adult supervision,” Pidge explains.

“What are you grounded for?” Allura asks, genuinely.

“She’s grounded because apparently my daughter thinks that running away from home, committing several different types of fraud (among other felonies), and then gallivanting off into space… **_without her mother’s permission_ ** is an acceptable activity for a 15 year old,” Colleen Holt says from behind them without looking up from her clipboard.

“Well apparently, finding my brother and saving my father from an intergalactic tyrant doesn’t get me a pass!” Pidge argues back.

“Not on your life, young lady,” Colleen says back firmly.

Romelle hides behind Allura and Hunk hides behind Lance as they awkwardly watch the two have a stare down.

“She’s scary…” Romelle whispers.

“Now I see who Pidge takes after…” Hunk whispers.

“Er… Shiro and I are both adults,” Keith tries.

“Yeah, Dr. Holt…” Shiro adds.

“ ** _Parental_ ** adult supervision!” Colleen clarifies firmly before pointing at them. “Now not another word out of you two, or you’re grounded too!”

“Yes, ma’am!” Shiro and Keith say in unison as Shiro ducks behind Keith.

“If it is parental supervision you require.”

They all look to see Krolia standing nearby.

“I would be honored to offer my assistance,” Krolia adds as she approaches Colleen.

“Mom?” Keith asks.

“If it pleases you, I will accompany them to ensure her punishment is not interrupted,” Krolia offers.

Colleen only takes a second to consider the offer.

“Deal!” Colleen concedes approvingly, shaking Krolia’s hand. “Not just because I approve of the chaperone but because I know Katie needs to buy new clothes to go and she hates clothes shopping.”

After that, she turns and leaves.

“Yes! We’re going to the beach!” Lance exclaims.

“Thanks, Krolia, you’re the best!” Pidge says hugging Krolia when Colleen is out of earshot.

“Don't thank me yet,” Krolia tells her with a raised eyebrow. “I was serious when I said your punishment wouldn’t be interrupted.”

“Still, it wouldn’t be the same if Pidge wasn’t there,” Keith says. “Thanks, Mom.”

“My chaperoning is as much for me as it is for you,” Krolia tells him. “I spent 19 years away from you, Keith. Two years on the back of a space whale is not going to make up for it.”

Keith smiles at her.

“Well, what are we waiting for? Let’s get packing!” Hunk exclaims.

~

The sun is setting as they arrive at Varadero Beach.

Lance walks out of the Red Lion and takes a deep breath.

“Ah! Smell that salty air! It’s good to be home!”

“The water is so beautiful here!” Allura states as she and Shiro exit the Blue Lion.

“Are you sure it’s ok for us to leave the Lions here?” Hunk asks from next to the Yellow Lion.

“Not like anyone will steal them,” Keith remarks as he and Romelle leave Black.

“Besides, I think the Lions are enjoying the change of scenery,” Shiro adds.

The door to the house they’re standing in front of bursts open as Krolia and Pidge leave the Green Lion.

“Uncle Lance!” yell Lance’s niece and nephew as they run toward them with Veronica and the rest of Lance’s family behind them.

“Hey you two!” Lance says, scooping both kids up into a big hug.

He turns to the others with a giggling child hanging off of each arm.

“Oh hey, I never really got to introduce you all. Veronica you already know, those are our brothers Marco and Luis, that's our sister Rachel, and our parents; Rosa and Ivan. And these two,” Lance tells them, indicating the giggling children still hanging on him, “Are Nadia and Sylvio. They’re Marco’s kids. His wife Lisa is out at the moment, you’ll meet her later.” Lance turns to his family and introduces the others.

“Welcome! Any friend of Lance’s is welcome here,” Lance’s mom says smiling as she hugs everyone.

“Thank you for letting us stay with you,” Shiro tells her. “I hope it isn’t an inconvenience.”

“Nonsense! We have plenty of room!” Lance’s dad assures.

“Lance, why don’t you show your friends where they’ll be sleeping?” his mom suggests.

“Alright! This way!” Lance says as he moves toward the house, his niece and nephew still hanging off of him. "Mi casa es mi casa, but you can do stuff in it."

The others laugh as they move to follow him.

“Just a moment,” Krolia states calmly, getting everyone’s attention.

Krolia turns to Pidge and holds out her hand.

“Personal computer and games please.”

Pidge gawks.

“What?”

“Your mother said you are still grounded,” Krolia tells her calmly before repeating. “Personal computer and games please.”

Pidge sighs and hands over her laptop and pocket gamer. She’s about to walk away when Krolia clears her throat. Pidge stops and pulls out a second pocket gamer. Krolia raises an eyebrow at her and she quickly pulls out a handheld computer and three more gamers before walking away with a pout.

“Thank you,” Krolia tells her as she places them in her bag. “You will get them back when we leave.”

“Wow…” Hunk mutters.

“I like you already!” Lance’s mom laughs as she leads Krolia inside.

“Krolia is definitely a mom, Keith,” Lance remarks.

“Isn’t she great?!” Keith says with stars in his eyes.

~

After dinner the Paladins, Romelle, and Krolia all go for a walk on the beach after sundown.

“The sky is so dark. I can barely see the waves,” Allura comments.

“It is a little unnerving really,” Romelle adds as she sticks close to Keith’s side.

“Yeah, but look at all the stars you can see,” Keith points out to her.

Romelle looks up.

“They are quite lovely.”

Keith points out two bright objects in the night sky.

“You see those two “stars” that aren’t twinkling? Those are actually two of the other planets in our star system.”

Romelle looks at him curiously.

“Really?”

“Yep, that’s Jupiter and Saturn, the 5th and 6th planets in our system.”

Romelle looks back at the sky.

“You said Jupiter was the biggest, yes?”

“That’s right.”

"Is Saturn the one that spins on its side?"

"No, that's Uranus. Saturn is that one with the huge rings where we hid the Lions."

Krolia smiles as she watches them.

"Akira used to point out planets and stars to me all the time," Krolia remarks.

“Reminds me of whenever my grandpa and I would go for a walk at night," Shiro says. "Except I’d be telling him all of this.”

As they walk, none of them notice Pidge lagging behind as she looks up at the stars.

Suddenly, Pidge crashes straight into someone, knocking them both into the sand. It's so dark that neither of them saw the other.

“Sorry!”

“My bad!”

Pidge blinks as a light suddenly shines straight in her face.

“Oh, sorry!”

The other person aims the light down a bit so they can see.

Pidge freezes as she finds herself staring into the face of a pretty girl with dark skin, a backward baseball cap on her head, and the most stunning pair of blue eyes Pidge has ever seen.

Like the sky on a cloudless day.

The other girl looks stunned for a moment too before she recovers.

“Well hello, cutie,” the other girl flirts smoothly.

And Pidge, kid genius, brains of the Paladins says.

“Uh huh...”

The other girl giggles before helping Pidge up.

“Name’s Maria Gonzalez, but everyone who isn’t my mom or a doctor calls me Sky. You alright there?”

Pidge only nods, having suddenly forgotten every word she ever knew. Standing up straight, the other girl is easily a foot taller than Pidge.

Sky looks down then and swears as she immediately starts fidgeting with something.

That’s when Pidge notices the camera around her neck.

“Everything ok?” Pidge asks, magically remembering how to talk.

“Sand got in my camera!”

“Need a hand cleaning it? It’s partially my fault it got sand in it.”

Sky looks at Pidge.

“Well aren’t you sweet? Sadly, my place is a skateboard ride into town so…”

“What do you need to clean it?”

“I mean, I got everything I need in my bag,” she says motioning to the large camera bag on her back. “I just need a well-lit place.”

Pidge thinks for a minute.

“I think I may be able to help with that part… but you have to keep it a secret and you’re not allowed to take pictures.”

“I mean, I’m a photojournalist, but I’ll try,” Sky sasses.

Pidge looks around nervously before grabbing Sky’s hand and leading her back to the house. When they get within sight, Pidge stops nervously for a minute to see through the Green Lion’s eyes. When she didn’t see anyone around, she motions for Sky to keep quiet as they approach said Lion.

“Why are we sneaking?” Sky whispers.

“Technically, I’m grounded…” Pidge whispers back.

Sky snorts.

“I knew I liked you…”

Pidge blushes as the Green Lion leans down to let Pidge in.

“Whoa…” Sky breathes as Pidge leads her inside the Green Lion. “I see why you don’t want me taking pictures.”

She looks at Pidge.

“Didn’t realize I’d met the Green Paladin. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you. Your faces were everywhere for the last several months.”

“Honestly, I’m kinda glad you didn’t recognize me,” Pidge admits.

She leads Sky into the back of the Green Lion, but stops when Pidge realizes she didn’t exactly have a plan.

Green’s emergency lights turn on then, leading to a table.

Sky immediately goes to the table.

“If only we had more…”

Before Sky can finish, several lights turn on over the table, including a smaller one that can be moved.

“Sweet! Thanks.”

“Thanks, Green,” Pidge whispers over her shoulder.

“You say something?” Sky asks as she sets down her bag and skateboard.

“Nothing.”

Sky shrugs before she starts taking out the stuff from her camera bag. After tying back her long, straight as an arrow brown-black hair, she slowly and meticulously starts to take her camera apart.

Here in the light, Pidge can see Sky's tank top, blue jeans, sandals, and blue baseball cap.

“So, why were you taking pictures in the dark anyway?” Pidge asks.

Sky smirks as she works.

“Best time for pictures of space and the night sky is when it’s incredibly dark out.”

Pidge perks up.

“Really.”

Sky motions to her bag.

“See for yourself.”

Pidge digs through Sky’s bag and pulls out a book filled with pictures of the night sky with planets and nebula and such. There are day time pictures, too.

“These are amazing. You took all of these?” Pidge comments.

“Sure did! Took most of them back in Peru.”

“You’ve been to Peru?”

“I’m from Peru. Sadly, half of Peru doesn’t exist anymore. We weren't there though. Dad convinced my mom to relocate to the Garrison when work began on that ship of theirs, so we were there when the Galra invaded. After Earth was liberated, since we can't go home, Mom has us moving around a lot to help places rebuild. I've been documenting everything.”

Pidge sees pictures Sky took of humans and aliens working together to rebuild Earth.

"You said your Dad convinced you to relocate to the main Garrison. Does that mean he's with the Garrison?"

Sky frowns.

"He was. He was a pilot. Two of my brothers are in the Garrison too."

"Not you, though."

Sky shakes her head.

"Even if I weren't a photojournalist, I don't want anything to do with the Garrison. Not after what they did to my dad."

Pidge looks at her.

"Why? What'd they do?"

"Dad was one of the pilots Admiral Sanda sent out when the Galra first invaded."

"I'm sorry."

Sky stops suddenly and looks at Pidge straight in the eye.

"You have absolutely nothing to apologize for. You weren't there and when you were, you got shit done!"

Sky looks back at her work in front of her.

"If anyone's to blame for Dad dying, it's Sanda and the Garrison brass! One of my brothers was in the room when she gave the order. Commander Holt specifically told her not to use regular fighters! He told her to use the MFEs, that regular fighters wouldn't stand a chance. He told her they'd be killed, but she was too stuck on protocol, procedures, and the smell of her own farts to listen!"

There are tears in Sky's eyes as she continues while putting her camera back together.

"I get Sanda died a hero in the end, but that doesn't magically erase what she did."

Pidge nods in agreement.

"She did come around in the end and I'm grateful for her sacrifice for us, but that doesn't change the fact that she nearly killed everyone because she was too proud to take the word of an alien when Allura told her Sendak couldn't be negotiated with."

Pidge looks at Sky.

"Still, I'm sorry your dad died. Commander Holt is my father."

Sky looks up at her.

"You're Katie Holt?"

"My friends all call me Pidge, but yeah."

Sky nods as she finishes putting her camera back together.

“Done! Just need to test it to make sure it still works."

Sky packs up her stuff and the pair head outside the Lion. Sky immediately takes a picture of the beach in front of them.

“It works!”

Sky turns to Pidge.

“Thanks. You're 16 right? I think I read that somewhere?”

“Erm… Yeah, I’m 16.”

Sky gets a text then.

“That’ll be my mom. Time to head home.”

Sky swaps out her hat for her helmet before walking back to Pidge.

"Here, for all your help."

Sky gives Pidge a quick kiss on the cheek before skateboarding off.

“I’ll see ya around then, Pidge.”

Pidge blushes speechless as she waves. When Sky is out of sight, she turns...

And startles when she sees the others standing there, minus Krolia and Romelle who Pidge can see inside.

She laughs nervously.

"Oh... hey... Fancy seeing you here..."

"I live here, Pidge," Lance teases.

"Who was that girl?" Allura asks, genuinely.

"Er... no one... just someone I met on the beach," Pidge stammers.

Suddenly Pidge's shoes are incredibly interesting.

"And invited back to your Lion?" Keith asks with a raised eyebrow.

"We ran into each other... literally... and she got sand in her camera and needed a place to clean it."

"And the kiss?" Shiro asks in amusement.

"Well..."

"Are you blushing?" Hunk asks.

"NO!"

Pidge tries in vain to rub the blush off her face.

"Can we just drop this, ok?!"

The other Paladins exchange an amused look as they follow Pidge back inside.

~

The following morning, they wake up to the patter of rain on the windows. Lance takes Allura out to dance in the rain while they wait for breakfast. The rain clears up after breakfast, so they quickly change into their bathing suits and head to the beach.

Pidge takes one look at them all and bursts into laughter. 

Everyone looks at her with a raised eyebrow.

“What’s so funny?” Keith asks.

“We all wore our Lion colors!!” Pidge points out with a laugh. 

Then she goes around the circle and points out everyone’s suits. 

“Black and blue," Shiro's trunks, "red and black" Keith's trunks, "red, blue, and black" Lance, "blue and pink," Allura's one piece with a skirt, "yellow," Hunk, "and I wore a green tankini with shorts. Was this intentional for you guys, because I literally just grabbed the first suit I could find that fit and felt comfortable on me.”

The others laugh with her.

"I cannot thank you enough for taking Romelle and me swimsuit shopping Pidge," Allura tells her.

"I needed a new bathing suit anyway," Pidge says with a shrug.

"I really like how you're wearing your hair," Allura says, indicating Pidge's pigtails.

"What did you say mine was called again?" Romelle asks, indicating to the yellow two piece halter top she picked for herself.

"It's called a bikini," Pidge answers her.

Shiro notices Pidge's medical necklace but doesn't say anything.

Krolia sits on the beach with Lance’s mom while the Paladins, Romelle, and Shiro enjoy the beach.

"I heard Lance say you're Keith's mom?"

"I am," Krolia admits. "I wish I could have been in his life more when he was growing up. I left to protect him but..."

"War makes us do many things we don't like," Lance's mom tells her sagely. "It's a universal rule that mothers do what they have to for their kids. You're in his life now. It's enough."

Krolia gives her a smile. 

Lance surfs while Shiro, Keith, Hunk, Allura, and Romelle swim. Pidge was looking for shells but eventually she ends up sitting in a chair on the beach looking bored out of her skull.

“Hey Mom, maybe you should let Pidge come swim with us,” Keith suggests to Krolia as he and the others approach her.

“I already told her to go have fun,” Krolia tells him with a raised eyebrow. “My punishment begins and ends with removing her electronic devices.”

The others look at each other puzzled before heading over to Pidge.

“Pidge, why don’t you come swimming with us?” Shiro suggests.

“No thanks…”

“Come on, Pidge. Come in the water with us!” Romelle says.

“I’ll teach you to surf,” Lance offers.

Pidge mutters something.

“What was that?” Hunk asks.

“I CAN’T SWIM, OK?!” Pidge snaps at them before turning away once more with a furious blush.

Her friends all blink at her.

“You don’t know how to swim?” Keith asks.

“Never really had the chance to learn,” Pidge admits.

“Pidge, why didn’t you tell us?” Shiro asks patiently.

"Because it's embarrassing!" Pidge snaps back. "I'm the smartest person in the group and can hack any computer in the universe but I can't swim!"

“You know I can teach you right?” Lance tells her gently.

“You can?” Pidge asks looking up at him.

“Lance is a fully trained and certified lifeguard,” Rosa boasts proudly.

“It’s true,” Lance confirms holding his hand out to Pidge. “I taught my niece and nephew in fact.”

“Well… alright,” Pidge agrees with a blush.

Lance spends the rest of the morning teaching Pidge to swim, after which they all go back to Lance’s house for lunch, where Lance’s mom makes them her garlic knots and Lance's siblings all tell embarrassing stories about him while the others laugh. After lunch, they go back out for a quick game of volleyball before showering and heading into town to walk around before the festival starts.

“I cannot believe you grew up here, Lance,” Allura states. “It's so beautiful.”

“I can see why you missed this place, man,” Hunk adds.

"Should have seen this place before the Galra invaded," Lance says wistfully. "You guys can't tell, but there's a lot of damage from the Galra here. Particularly off shore."

Something catches Pidge’s eye as they walk past a store window.

She stops in her tracks and stares with stars in her eyes. It takes a moment before the others realize Pidge has stopped.

They all follow Pidge’s gaze and see a pretty pale green halter top sundress with a knee length skirt and pale blue and white flowers on the hem in the store window.

“Oh Pidge, that dress would look so pretty on you!” Allura exclaims.

Pidge blinks up at Allura in surprise.

“You think?”

“I can see it,” Hunk tells her.

“Oh yeah, me too,” Keith adds.

“Are you going to try it on?” Romelle asks.

“I don’t know…” Pidge says. “It’s been so long since I wore a dress. Most of my clothes from before are too small for me now.”

“That just means you have an excuse to buy some new clothes,” Shiro points out to her.

“True…” Pidge states.

She gets an idea and looks at Allura and Romelle.

“I’ll try on the dress if you two try on the ones next to it.”

Allura and Romelle look at the long, pale blue sundress with pink flowers and green leaves and the shorter yellow sundress with teal flowers beside it.

“Deal!”

“Be right back boys!” Romelle calls over her shoulder as they head into the shop.

“Not bad!” Pidge says admiring herself in the mirror.

“Indeed,” Romelle agrees.

They turn as Allura steps out in her dress so she can see herself.

“This was a good idea,” Allura states. “It is nice to do something, just us girls.”

“Knew the longer sundress would look better on you,” Pidge tells her. “You’re more graceful than I am.”

“Why thank you Pidge,” Allura tells her. “Shall we buy them?”

Pidge hesitates for a moment.

Allura catches her hesitation as Romelle heads for the front and sits down on a bench in the changing room.

“Pidge, what is actually bothering you?” she asks patiently as she motions to the bench.

Pidge sighs.

“I don’t know…” Pidge says with a sigh as she sits down beside Allura. “I guess… I know dressing like a boy was part of my disguise… but… I don’t know…”

“Pidge…” Allura begins gently. “Are you worried that others will treat you differently if they see you in a dress?”

“Yeah, I guess I am a little,” Pidge admits.

“I will not tell you what you should do,” Allura tells Pidge. “Do you like the dress?”

“Yes.”

“Do you like how you look in it?” Allura asks.

“Yes.”

“Do you want the dress?”

“Yes.”

“Then everyone else can… what is that Earth phrase Keith often uses?” Allura thinks for a moment. “Oh yes! Fuck themselves.”

Pidge laughs.

“You are still Pidge, no matter how you look, what you wear, or how you present yourself.”

“Thanks Allura,” Pidge says with a smile as she hugs her.

“Now, shall we purchase these?” Allura asks while standing up.

“Ooh, hang on a moment!”

Pidge snatches a pale blue sun hat with pink and green ribbons off a rack and puts it on Allura’s head.

“There!” Pidge says. “It matches your dress!”

They head up to the front for Pidge to buy the dresses.

“We’re ready boys!” Romelle calls out as the two of them rejoin the group.

All four guys’ jaws drop when they see them.

“Wow, you ladies look awesome,” Shiro tells them sincerely.

“Agreed,” Hunk and Keith chime in.

“It’s kinda weird seeing Pidge in a dress though,” Lance blurts out before getting elbowed by all three guys. “I mean, you look great!” Lance quickly corrects himself.

Pidge grabs him by the front of his shirt and drags him down to look her in the eye.

“Don’t let the pretty dress fool you,” she tells him with a smirk. “I can still kick your ass in Slam Rumble.”

Lance gasps in offense and the others laugh as she releases his shirt and walks away.

“We should head to the festival,” Krolia suggests with a smile.

~

When they get to the festival, there are people in colorful clothes, music, dancing, and all kinds of rides and games.

“Oh! What are those?” Romelle asks with wonder in her eyes as she points toward a large racetrack to their right.

“Those are called go-karts,” Lance explains.

“They look like such fun!” Romelle exclaims. “Can we go on them?!”

“Oh hell yes! I’m in!” Pidge chimes in.

“Sounds like fun,” Allura adds.

“Alright then, let’s go race some go-karts!” Lance exclaims.

They go up to the go-kart track and see there are mostly two-seaters (only one side of the cart drives, the other is a passenger seat) and a handful of single seaters.

“Maybe some of us can ride with a passenger,” Hunk suggests. “Since there are so many of us who haven’t driven a go-cart before.

“Oh! Oh! Dibs on Allura!” Pidge exclaims.

“No fair! Then I get Hunk!” Lance responds.

“Hey Mom, wanna ride with me?” Keith asks Krolia nervously. “It’s OK if you don’t want to. I tend to be super competitive.”

“I would be disappointed if you weren't,” Krolia tells him simply, “I would be happy to ride with you.” 

Keith grins back at her.

“Looks like it’s just you and me,” Shiro says amiably at Romelle.

“Yay!” Romelle says enthusiastically.

They each pick a go-kart.

“It’s been ages since I drove a go-kart,” Shiro states offhandedly.

“Sure you can keep up, old timer?” Keith asks grinning mischievously from the car beside him.

“Oh it's on!” Shiro fires back at him with a grin.

“It’s cute that you two think you’ll win,” Lance taunts them playfully. "3 laps around the track, winner gets to pick what we do next!”

“Deal!”

While the boys rile each other up over who’s going to win, Pidge is formulating a strategy.

They get their cars into position and wait for the signal to start. When the start light goes up, they hit the gas. Lance takes an immediate lead with Shiro and Keith right on his tail and Pidge right behind them. Before long Shiro and Keith are both neck and neck with Lance.

“Should we not be going faster?” Allura asks.

“Trust me Allura,” Pidge tells her with a knowing smile.

For most of the race, they remain that way with Keith, Shiro, and Lance competing with each other and exchanging jabs. Romelle is having a blast riding with Shiro. Hunk… not so much. At the start of lap three, Keith and Shiro pull ahead and maintain their lead for the rest of the race. All while Pidge and Allura ride just behind Lance’s car.

Until they get halfway through the third lap.

“Hang on to your hat, Allura!”

Pidge shifts gears and weaves out from where she was riding behind Lance’s cart, and hits the gas.

“Later boys!” Pidge calls over her shoulder as she easily overtakes the three carts and takes the lead. 

She remains in the lead until they cross the finish line, with Keith and Shiro crossing just behind her at the same time and Lance following.

“Yes!” Pidge shouts as she and Allura exchange a high-five before getting out.

“Hold the phone!” Lance exclaims as he and Hunk walk up to them. “How did you do that? You were riding our tails the entire way.”

It’s Keith who figures it out first.

“You were using our slipstreams to conserve fuel.”

“Yep!” Pidge confirms with a grin. “For most of the race I was coasting while riding the slipstream of whoever was last. Once we reached the ½ mark of the third lap, while all of your go-karts were running out of gas, I still had plenty to shift into high gear and pull ahead.”

"Clever girl!" Krolia compliments.

“Nice work, Pidge,” Shiro says.

“Can we do that again?!” Romelle asks excitedly. “I want to drive my own cart this time! It was so much fun!”

“I think the deal was that the winners get to pick what we do next,” Allura reminds them.

“Why don’t we have one more ride in the go-carts, not racing, just for fun, and then we’ll do what Allura and I want to do,” Pidge suggests.

“Sounds good to me!” Keith states.

“Alright!” Shiro agrees.

“Same!” Lance adds.

“Only if we’re not racing,” Hunk clarifies.

“I believe I will sit this one out,” Allura says. “This was fun, but I'm a little dizzy.”

“I think I'll sit this one out as well, Keith,” Krolia tells him. “I'll be watching from those seats.”

“What are we waiting for?! Let’s go!”

Keith jumps in a black go-kart, Shiro jumps in a blue one, Lance grabs a red one, Pidge and Hunk grab a green and yellow one respectively, and Romelle grabs a teal one.

Every time Keith passes the bleachers where Allura and Krolia are sitting, he smiles and waves at Krolia.

“Alright ladies, where to next?” Shiro asks.

“I am unsure,” Allura says. “I have never been to an Earth festival before.”

“I know what I’d like to do but…”

Pidge looks at Krolia.

“My punishment starts and ends with your personal electronic devices and computers,” Krolia reminds her.

“I’ll take it! To the rides and then games!” Pidge yells.

They go on a few rides before heading to the games area where they split up among the games but still stay near each other.

Pidge hears the sound of a basketball being dribbled nearby. She looks over and sees Sky playing one of the basketball fairway games. As she watches, Sky throws the ball so that it hits the backboard. It should have gone in, but the ball bounces right off the rim. When the girl tries twice more with the same result, Pidge takes a closer look at the hoop.

"Arc the ball more," Pidge tells her.

Sky looks at her.

"Come again?"

"Arc the ball more. Using the backboard won't work. Arc it straight in."

Sky shrugs and then does it.

The ball goes in.

"Hey how'd you know that would work?" Sky asks as she’s given a green frog plush.

"The game is rigged."

"It is not!" the attendant yells.

Pidge ignores him.

"When your shots didn’t make it in, I noticed the hoop is smaller than the average basketball hoop and there’s a small metal lip sticking out just under the rim to keep shots from going in if they hit the backboard. That’s how they scam customers. They care more about making money than they do about you winning a prize. So I calculated the trajectory needed to score while avoiding the metal lip."

"You did all that in your head? You're pretty smart. Pidge, was it?"

"That's me."

"Bet I can beat you at ring toss."

"You're on!"

Sky and Pidge play games together while Keith shows off for Krolia.

“Hey Mom, did you see me?!” Keith asks Krolia when he rings the bell on the strength tester.

“You did well,” Krolia tells him with a smile.

"Here!" He says, giving her a purple hippo plush with a ridiculous look on its face he got as a prize.

"I will treasure it," Krolia vows genuinely.

“Oh! Come see this one!” he says, dragging Krolia to another carnival game.

“Oh my god! OK I’m not the only one who thinks that’s absolutely precious, right?!” Hunk states with a teary eyed smile. “Tell me it’s not just me.”

“No, it isn’t just you,” Shiro assures him, smiling and looking a little misty eyed himself as he watches Keith show off for Krolia at another game.

“I have never seen Keith smile so much,” Allura comments.

“Did you see him waving to Krolia every time he passed the stands in the go-karts?!” Hunk continues. "Not to mention they sat next to each other on all the rides."

“Well, keep in mind, Keith never really had much of a childhood beyond age 8,” Shiro points out to them. “Most of it was spent being bounced around foster care. Now he’s finally getting to have one.”

Lance silently watches Keith with his mom.

~

 _He's 15 years old and sitting with a group of cadets eating lunch. A newly enrolled 16 year old Keith sitting alone eating his lunch while Lance and the other kids are talking about him._

_"He's such a freak..."_

_"Shiro's charity case..."_

_"Can't believe he got a high score..."_

_"Bet he cheated..."_

_"Even his own parents didn't want him..."_

~

“Ok, I think I’m gamed out for a while,” Lance states nonchalantly after shaking his head out. “Is anyone else hungry? There’s food at this thing, you know?”

“Once again, you had me at food!” Hunk says.

They all go toward the concession stands and find Lance’s family is already there so they sit with them.

While the others are getting their food, Lance walks up behind where his mom is sitting and gives her a big hug.

“Everything alright, mijo?” his mom asks him.

“I’m fine,” Lance assures her as he hugs her a little tighter. “Just… really glad I have you in my life…”

His mom smiles and pats his arm.

“You always will,” she assures him. “Now go get something to eat.”

When they’re finished eating, everyone slowly starts to migrate out to dance to the street music.

Everyone, except Keith and Pidge.

“Wallflowering?” Pidge asks Keith as she sits with her arms crossed.

“Yep,” Keith confirms, his arms also crossed as he watches Shiro dancing amiably with Romelle.

“You know, you could just go over there and ask Shiro to dance…” Pidge tells him bluntly.

“I suck at dancing…” Keith admits.

“Bitch, me too,” Pidge states.

Pidge gets an idea and looks at Keith.

“Wanna go out there and suck at dancing together?”

Keith laughs.

“Sure, why not."

“Holy crow! Pidge convinced Keith to come dance!” Lance exclaims from where he's dancing with Hunk and Allura as Keith and Pidge join them. “Keith never danced at ANY of the Garrison dances. Even Shiro couldn’t get Keith to dance.”

"Pidge can be pretty persuasive," Hunk teases.

“Just shut up and dance!” Keith and Pidge say at the same time before they start to dance.

As they dance, Pidge subtly moves them closer to where Shiro and Romelle are dancing. Her eyes catch Romelle’s and she motions. Romelle nods, catching on fast. A few minutes later, Pidge holds her hand out to dance with Shiro. Shiro laughs as he takes her hand and promptly spins her. When Keith goes to take her back, Pidge sidesteps and shoves him into Shiro before dancing off with Romelle.

A magnificent blush spreads across both of their faces as Shiro easily catches Keith.

“K…Keith!"

"Um... hey," Keith stammers before giving him an awkward smile. "So... um... you wanna dance?"

Shiro gives Keith a side smile and starts dancing with Keith.

Pidge and Romelle exchange a high five as Shiro and Keith quickly become lost in their own world. As they move to join Allura, Lance, and Hunk’s group, Pidge bumps into Sky and the two dance the rest of the night before exchanging phone numbers to keep in touch.


	2. Atlas

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Garrison holds an official ceremony to promote Shiro to Captain and end it with a farewell party for the Atlas crew and the Paladins.

“You guys did a great job repairing this,” Lance states.

Shiro and Pidge are leading him, Hunk, and Keith up the Atlas’ gangplank to take them on a tour of the ship before her official christening.

“Wait until you guys see my new lab!” Pidge exclaims with stars in her eyes. “It’s too beautiful for words!”

“Also, no more food goo!” Hunk chimes in.

“Instead we have Garrison mess hall food…” Keith points out while raising an eyebrow.

“You shut your mouth! That stuff was delicious!” Lance tells him with a laugh.

“If you say so,” Keith argues back, but there’s no fire behind it.

“Hey,  shouldn’t Allura be here?” Hunk asks.

“She’s still keeping an eye on the Altean pilot,” Pidge tells them. “She’ll be at the christening and promotion ceremony tonight though.”

Shiro and Pidge show them the mess hall, engine room and engineering, bio lab, all of the gyms and training decks on the ship, an observation deck, the launch bays for the Lions, as well as various other places on the ship.

Pidge excitedly shows them the projects she’s been working on in her lab which immediately starts playing heavy metal music over the speakers when they enter.

“So apparently, Alfor left the schematics for the Paladin armor in the Castle’s computer files that were transferred here. I’ve been working with Allura to repair our current armor since they took a HUGE beating after our fight. I'm also working on upgraded Paladin armor for us all. They’ll look a little nicer and go on faster! I’ll show you more when Allura is with us and I have a better prototype. Oh yeah, that reminds me!”

Pidge runs and grabs something off the workbench.

“Here! Just finished these last week.” 

She hands Keith, Lance, and Hunk each a black bracelet with a glowing stripe on it similar to their Paladin armor, only it’s clear.

“What do we do with it?” Keith asks.

“I’ll show you!” Pidge says, taking a step back and pulling her sleeve up to reveal a black bracelet with a green glowing stripe on it. Pidge summons her bayard and it appears in her right hand.

“Holy crow, that’s amazing!” Hunk exclaims.

Hunk, Lance, and Keith immediately put theirs on and the glowing stripe changes to yellow, blue, and red respectively. They immediately summon their bayards.

“That’s pretty cool,” Keith states.

“I made an extra one for you too, Shiro,” Pidge tells him as she holds the remaining bracelet out to him. “Allura already has hers.”

Shiro smiles and puts the bracelet on. The stripe turns purple.

“Good work, Pidge!” Shiro says.

“Yeah, now we can have our bayards on us even when we’re not in our armor,” Keith remarks.

Shiro shows them all the main lounge and where the living quarters are next.

“Most of the crew will be sleeping down here,” Shiro says. “Officers, like Commander Holt and his wife, Coran, and Veronica have upgraded quarters upstairs. Special Forces like the Rebels and Blade of Marmora members have their own suites.”

“Where do we sleep?” Lance asks.

“I’ll show you,” Shiro says with a smile.

He leads them up a lift to a private lounge with a kitchenette with a counter and barstools, a large semi-circle couch, and big flatscreen TV on the wall in front of it. There’s a game station and a circular table in front of the couch. Around the lounge are six rooms, the Captain’s quarters and one for each Paladin.

“Sweet! We get our own lounge!” Lance says as he hops over the back of the couch and promptly lays down.

“Oh heck yes! Our rooms actually have windows now!” Hunk says as he inspects his room.

Keith is silent as he looks around his quarters. There's a window above the berth with a dresser on the opposite wall and a door in the back leading to a private bathroom with shower. Beside a set of doors between the bathroom and dresser is a rack with Keith’s Paladin armor on it.

“Shiro! Your quarters are near ours!” Pidge points out happily.

“Yep,” Shiro says happily. “We’ll all be able to hang out during our downtime like we did in the Castle lounge.”

“Hey! Maybe we can get into a game of Monsters & Mana at some point!” Hunk suggests.

“Hey yeah!” Lance says. “That game was fun! Bet Allura would love it!”

“I’d be up for a game,” Shiro admits. “It’d be nice to actually play it instead of having memories of my clone playing it.”

“Think Coran would set one up for us?” Pidge asks. “He liked it the last time we played.”

“What's Monsters & Mana?” Keith asks leaning against the doorframe of his quarters. “Other than a game.”

“That’s right! You were off getting to know your mom when we played,” Hunk remembers.

“Basically, it’s D&D,” Pidge tells Keith.

“You’re assuming I know what D&D is?” Keith remarks with a raised eyebrow.

“You’ve never heard of Dungeons & Dragons?” Lance scoffs.

“No,” Keith answers Lance with a frown. “You think they let us play games in the homes? We were lucky to have a TV and books.”

That shuts Lance up.

“It’s a high fantasy role-playing game,” Pidge explains. “You make and name a character then play as that character through a story created by the Game Master.”

“It’s so much fun!” Hunk says. “You should join us next time!”

“Maybe,” Keith says.

“Anyway,” Shiro changes the subject, “the rooms all have private lifts down to the Lion bays. Even mine does for some reason.”

“You mean, you don’t know?” Lance asks. “Didn’t you help fix the ship?”

“Well yeah but here’s the thing,” Shiro explains. “The Atlas is as much a battleship as the Lions are fighter jets.”

“So, she’s completely sentient,” Keith states.

“More or less, yeah,” Shiro says. "She doesn't talk to me or anything, but she seems to have a mind of her own."

“When we were repairing the Atlas, we discovered changes to her layout that weren’t on the schematics,” Pidge explains. “And since we didn’t add them, the only explanation is that Atlas must have put them there herself.”

“It’s not always clear why,” Shiro adds.

“Why put the lifts here though?” Keith asks. “Isn’t it an inconvenience to have to come here from the bridge?”

“No actually,” Pidge says.

She then points to the hallway with a door at the end of it.

“The bridge is right up there.”

They take the lift up to the bridge.

“It’s pretty much the same as it was before,” Pidge says. “The only thing we added was the the teledav and starmap to the Captain’s post. Unfortunately, it has to be converted manually to use them.”

“And that’s pretty much all of it,” Shiro tells them.

“So Shiro, are you excited about the ceremony tonight?” Lance asks as he wanders aimlessly around the bridge. “I mean, you’re about to officially be named captain. That’s pretty exciting.”

“Excited, anxious, among other things,” Shiro admits as he steps up to what will be his post on the bridge. “It still doesn’t feel real.”

“I still can’t believe the Garrison is going to make all three of us officers,” Hunk states as he sits in Iverson’s chair.

“I can’t believe they’re making ME an officer,” Pidge chimes in. “You two were actually cadets. I technically wasn’t one.”

“I think Allura’s getting her own promotion or something tonight too,” Hunk states. “I mean, she might not be a Garrison member, but she is a princess. She deserves her own title.”

“Hey, does anyone know the dress code for this thing?” Lance asks.

“It’s a formal event so we’re either supposed to be in our Garrison uniforms or a suit or dress,” Pidge states. “I’m kinda excited.”

“Too bad you dropped out Keith, or they’d probably make you an officer too,” Lance says offhandedly without thinking.

“…”

Keith flinches as he leans against the doorway. If Keith were younger, that comment would have started a fight. Now, Keith looks at the floor and doesn’t say anything.

Shiro, Pidge, and Hunk see the flinch however and Pidge and Hunk both smack Lance upside the head.

“Ow! What was that for?!”

They point at Keith looking at his feet and Lance realizes what he said.

“Crap, that came out wrong!” Lance tries to back pedal. “I just meant it sucks you won’t get to graduate with us that's all... you know... on account of you not being a cadet anymore.”

Keith flinches again before turning and leaving with his hands in his pockets.

“Lance, just stop digging,” Pidge tells him.

Shiro watches Keith go for two seconds before running after him.

“Keith! Wait up!” he calls out to him. 

Keith doesn’t look up or stop, but he does slow down so Shiro can catch up.

“Hey you ok?” Shiro asks him.

“I’ll live,” Keith tells him. “Nothing I haven’t lived with before.”

“You know he didn’t mean it right?” Shiro asks. “He gets so caught up, he doesn’t think.”

“Whatever.”

“What happened with you and the Garrison anyway?” Shiro asks genuinely. “When I left for Kerberos, you were doing so well.”

“I’d rather not talk about it,” Keith tells him looking back at the floor. “I was expelled. That's all that matters.”

Shiro nods acceptingly.

“Alright, I’ll respect that,” Shiro tells him as he puts his human hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Just know, if you ever change your mind…”

“I know,” Keith says as he gives Shiro a small smile. “Thanks.”

“What are best friends for?”

They all leave then to get ready for the christening of the Atlas and the promotion ceremony/farewell party.

~

After christening the Atlas they all gather in the conference hall at the Garrison for the ceremony and party.

“Takashi Shirogane, please step forward,” Commander Iverson states after opening statements conclude.

Shiro walks up onto the stage and gives him a salute when he stops in front of him.

“For your services to the Garrison and your actions during the Liberation of Earth and the subsequent battle with the Altean mech, we humbly promote you to the rank of Captain.”

Iverson pins the captain’s metal to the lapel of Shiro’s black suit and presents him with his new uniform, a black Garrison uniform with four gold stripes and a gold shoulder panel.

“Thank you sir,” Shiro tells him with a small bow before stepping off the stage to applause.

“Lance McClain. Hunk Garrett. Katherine Holt. Please step forward.”

All three of them walk up onto the stage, all wearing suits. Pidge has a green headband in her hair and a black bracelet with a green glowing stripe on her wrist. Like Shiro, they all give Iverson a salute. Pidge isn't wearing her glasses.

“For services rendered to the Garrison and your actions during the Liberation of Earth and selfless heroism during the subsequent battle with the Altean robeast, we promote the three of you to Garrison officers.”

Iverson pins the officer tags to their suits and dress and presents the three of them with their new uniforms, Blue, Yellow, and Green respectively with two gold stripes on the shoulder.

“Thank you sir,” all three of them say with a salute before stepping off the stage and running to their families.

Keith claps for all three of them, genuinely happy they're graduating, even if he isn't.

“As you all know, the Garrison made many mistakes during the fight against the Galra invasion and liberation of Earth,” Iverson continues when the applause dies down. “It’s high time one such mistake was rectified.”

“Princess Allura of Altea, please step forward.”

Allura, dressed in her princess dress, walks up to the stage before curtsying.

“One of the gravest and most costly mistakes that was made was that the higher command of the Garrison was unwilling to listen and respect your input, simply because you were not of Earth. Yet, in Earth’s darkest hour, you fought to defend her as though she were your home and that is something that should never be forgotten. You are not of the Garrison and you are not of Earth, but you still deserve to be acknowledged as the benevolent ambassador and ruler of your people you have proven to be,” Iverson states. “From this moment forward, Earth welcomes you with open arms and will give you and those who follow you a home for as long as you need it. Also, you will command the same respect as a Garrison captain and have the same privileges, both on board the Atlas and on Earth. Any order or suggestion given by you will be treated with the respect and consideration as one given by Captain Shirogane.”

Allura is presented with a new pink Garrison uniform with four gold stripes and a gold shoulder panel like Shiro’s does.

“Now, I understand that in the culture of your people, pink has a different meaning,” Iverson states.

“It is a color of mourning and reverence for fallen soldiers for my people,” Allura explains amiably.

“Even more fitting,” Iverson states with a friendly smile. “For our people pink is a symbol of hope and inspiration. May you inspire and bring hope to all who follow you while honoring and remembering those who came before.”

“Thank you,” Allura tells him graciously with a small bow before walking down the steps to applause.

Keith is standing off to the side with his mom and Kolivan as he watches Shiro and the others receive their promotions and honors. When Iverson continues, Keith expects he’s going to announce the start of the Farewell Party.

That’s not what happens.

“While we’re on the subject of mistakes that need to be rectified, I have one final promotion to grant tonight,” Iverson begins, his face growing serious.

There’s a murmur of confusion in the audience that says no one else was expecting it either.

“Did you know there was going to be another promotion tonight?” Lance whispers to Shiro.

“No,” Shiro whispers back, looking just as confused as Lance feels.

“In my years as a commanding officer for the Garrison, I have made many mistakes in my time,” Iverson continues when the murmurs die down. “I try not to dwell upon them because, after all I am human and there are many. However there is one mistake I made not so many years ago that haunts me to this day. I received a confirmation earlier this morning that, I hope, will rectify that mistake.”

“Explains why this is the first we’re hearing of it,” Hunk mutters.

“Keith Kogane, please step forward.”

Keith blinks in surprise at hearing his name called but walks up on stage, feeling the eyes of the other Paladins on him as he hears whispers in the audience.

“Yes sir.”

Keith gives Iverson a salute.

“As you know, there were many who doubted you when you first enrolled in the Garrison as a cadet. Many of them gave you a hard time because of that doubt, and I’m ashamed to admit I was one of them,” Iverson begins remorsefully. “In spite of our doubts, even with your unruly temper and disregard for authority, you not only did well, but you excelled. To this day, not one cadet or pilot has been able to break your records in the simulators. Yet everyone except Captain Shirogane still doubted you. Then there was the incident that led to your expulsion from the Garrison…”

“Expulsion? I thought Keith dropped out?” Lance whispers in confusion.

“Who…” James begins before being shushed by Pidge.

“…Yet despite all of our transgressions against you, all the strife we put you through; when Earth was in need, you fought valiantly to liberate her and her people and protect her in her darkest hour, even though it almost killed you to do it,” Iverson continues.

“It was the right thing to do, sir; regardless of how I felt about it or the risks it held,” Keith tells him honestly.

“And that right there is exactly why it was a mistake to expel you,” Iverson points out remorsefully. “You have shown to not only be an exemplary cadet, but a better person than many of us could ever hope to be. I look upon you now and I can see what Captain Shirogane saw in you all those years ago. The Garrison and I extend to you an official, sincere apology for the way we treated you as a cadet and, if you will accept it, you will not only be reinstated but will also be promoted to the rank of Commander.”

Keith genuinely thinks his brain crashes for a split second as he tries to remember how to breathe, let alone speak.

He recovers quickly.

“Yes, sir… I mean, I accept the apology and the promotion, sir,” he stammers as he struggles to keep a huge grin from spreading across his face or to start crying when Iverson pins the commander medal to the lapel of his suit as he’s handed his new Garrison uniform; red with three gold stripes on the shoulders and a name badge.

“Also, I did a little research,” Iverson continues. “Your actions as well as the injuries you sustained from removing the exploding mech into Earth’s orbit and the subsequent crash to Earth that nearly ended your life qualifies you for a Purple Heart.”

His brain completely crashes this time. 

Keith.exe has stopped functioning. 

He’s completely speechless as Iverson pins the Purple Heart medal to Keith’s lapel beside his commander medal. He somehow remembers to give Iverson a final salute before turning and looking a little stunned at the other Paladins as they clap and cheer along with the applause from everyone else at the party. Keith is still stunned as he walks off the stage to where his mother and Kolivan are standing off to the side, not clapping or cheering, but no less proud of him.

“Without further ado, let’s celebrate!” Iverson concludes.

“KEITH!”

Keith yells as he’s suddenly tackled by Lance, Pidge, and Hunk.

“Holy quiznak! Not only did you get a promotion, you got a Purple Heart!” Pidge exclaims.

“Seriously man, you deserve it!” Hunk tells him.

“How do you feel?” Lance asks him.

“Overwhelmed and completely in shock,” Keith says honestly.

“I understand the promotion to commander, but what's a “Purple Heart”?” Allura asks.

“It’s a medal given out to someone who is severely injured or dies while performing a selfless act that saved lives in the line of duty,” Shiro explains as he joins them. “It’s one of the highest awards that can be given at the Garrison.”

“Hey, Keith wasn’t the only one who nearly died in the robeast explosion,” Lance complains. “How come we didn’t get Purple Hearts?”

“Because all four of us were awake and conscious a day or two after we were pulled from our Lions,” Pidge reminds him. “And apart from Hunk’s head injury, all of us had battle fatigue from the fight. Battle fatigue doesn’t qualify you for a Purple Heart.”

“Yeah man, Keith's heart was literally stopped when he was pulled from the Black Lion,” Hunk chimes in. “He had to be revived before they did anything else.”

“And  _ then _ he had to be revived  **twice** on the operating table before slipping into a coma for two and a half weeks. That’s not even mentioning the concussion he got from the crash,” Pidge adds before concluding, “Seriously, Keith deserves that Purple Heart way more than we do. Stop being a glory hound and let Keith have this!”

"Ok! Geez!" Lance says defensively.

Keith hears none of this as his eyes meet Shiro’s. For the entire argument between the trio, neither of them move or speak.

Shiro hands his new uniform to Allura to hold before pulling Keith into a hug. Keith hugs his new commander uniform to his chest with one hand as he lets him.

“I’m so proud of you,” Shiro tells him. “You earned this.”

The shock finally wears off as Keith’s shoulders start to tremble. He buries his face in the security of Shiro’s shoulder as tears roll down his face. He’s feeling so many emotions all at once that he doesn’t know what to feel so he cries.

Shiro understands and hugs him tighter as Keith grips the back of Shiro’s suit jacket.

“Alright, move along,” Krolia says, shooing the others away to give Shiro and Keith some privacy.

“Thank you so much for bailing me out of juvie!” Keith tells Shiro between sobs.

Shiro laughs but doesn’t let Keith go as he cries.

When Keith finally gets his emotions under control, he pulls back and rubs the tear streaks from his face before looking up at Shiro. He then turns to his mom and Kolivan.

“Mom! Kolivan! I got a promotion!” he tells them excitedly.

“And a military acknowledgement from what it sounds like,” Kolivan states.

Lance stands next to Veronica and the MFE fighters, who are all wearing new uniforms with Veronica and James’ uniforms bearing the marks of a higher officer, and watches Keith with Kolivan, Krolia, and Shiro while Hunk and Pidge run to show their families their promotions.

“Gotta say, Keith definitely earned that Purple Heart,” James admits to the others.

Then James remembers.

“Speaking of Keith, who told you he dropped out?”

“You know, rumors,” Lance says.

“Well the rumors are wrong,” James tells him firmly. “I was there when it happened. Keith would have never dropped out. He was expelled.”

“OK! Geez, when did you become Keith’s biggest defender?”

“I have my reasons,” James tells him as he looks over at Keith.

As the Farewell Party continues, everyone eats, drinks, and dances the night away. After an hour of fast music, the DJ plays a slow song.

Pidge watches with Bae Bae and Kosmo as several couples slowly move onto the dance floor.

She sees her parents, Matt with his new girlfriend (who is incredibly nice and Pidge gets along with like a house on fire), Hunk and Shay, Lance and Allura, and Shiro and Keith. Even Krolia and Kolivan are dancing, which is new.

Pidge’s smile fades as she looks at Allura and Lance.

“Come on you two, let’s get some fresh air,” Pidge tells Kosmo and Bae Bae.

Both of them follow her as she moves onto the balcony.

Bae Bae whimpers up at Pidge.

“I’m OK, Bae Bae,” Pidge assures her as she bends down to give her a scratch behind the ears. “Who needs a boy in my life anyway?!” she tells her while pitching her voice.

Bae Bae barks in agreement and licks Pidge’s face.

Pidge wipes her face as she stands up and leans against the rail of the balcony. She remains out there, even after she hears a loud song come on, something with a booming bass.

She feels a tap on her shoulder and turns to see...

“Sky!” Pidge exclaims as she hugs the other 16-year-old. “What are you doing here?!“

“My brother's on the Atlas crew," Sky tells her as they pull away.

Pidge laughs.

“Congrats on the promotion, girl! You earned it,” Sky tells her.

“Thanks,” Pidge says.

They lean against the railing together.

“So you’re heading back out there soon?” Sky asks.

“Yep, end of the week,” Pidge tells her.

Bae Bae whimpers and paws at Pidge’s feet then.

“Oh hey, meet my date!” Pidge jokes. “Bae Bae, meet Sky.”

Bae Bae barks and wags her tail loyally.

“Aw! She’s cute,” Sky tells her while scratching her ear.

She looks up curiously at the space wolf.

“Is that a blue wolf?”

Pidge laughs.

“That’s Kosmo.”

Kosmo turns his head to the side at Sky.

“Dogs make everything better,” Pidge says.

“Damn right they do,” Sky agrees. 

Pidge kneels down to scratch Bae Bae behind the ear.

“Isn’t that right?”

Bae Bae wags her tail in agreement.

Suddenly, both Kosmo and Bae Bae look up at the sky and start growling. Then Pidge and Sky hear a sonic boom and follow their gaze.

“What the quiznak?”

Pidge stands up and spots a ball of fire hurtling through the sky toward the ground. She pulls out some binoculars and spots the mech inside the ball of fire.

“Shoot!” Pidge hisses as she lowers the binoculars.

She and Sky watch as it hits the ground not far from the Garrison.

“I doubt anyone else heard or felt that with the music playing so loud!” Sky states.

Pidge mentally calls the Green Lion to her. She feels herself seeing through the eyes of her Lion; her bracelet glowing as her bayard appears in her hand.

She turns to Sky and the two dogs.

“Sky, hit the alarm! Kosmo, Bae Bae, get Keith and the others!”

“Alright,” Sky says. “Go kick their butt, Pidge!”

Sky hits the alarm and Kosmo teleports inside with Bae Bae as Pidge climbs the banister of the balcony. The Green Lion flies up for her to jump into the Green Lion’s open mouth.

“Come on girl, let's buy the others some time to get their Lions,” Pidge tells her as she sits in the seat of her Lion and they fly over to where the robeast landed.

Inside the conference hall, everyone stops what they’re doing when the alarm goes off.

“What’s going on!?” Shiro yells over the alarm.

Kosmo poofs beside him and Keith with Bae Bae who promptly runs barking to Commander Holt and his wife.

Kosmo looks Keith in the eye.

“Something crashed outside!” Keith says as he runs for the balcony.

He, Shiro, and the other Paladins (along with many onlookers) run out onto the balcony and see another Altean mech not far away. Pidge has already engaged it with the Green Lion.

“Pidge must have set off the alarm,” Shiro says.

"Actually, I did," Sky corrects him with her arms crossed over her chest as Keith immediately runs back inside followed by Lance, Allura, and Hunk.

Shiro turns toward the crowd.

“Everyone who isn’t a Paladin, go back inside!”

Everyone but Sky runs inside.

"You have to go inside, too," Shiro tells her.

"I ain't in the Garrison, Captain Kirk! I don't have to do jack!" Sky sasses him with a raised eyebrow.

They hear a mighty roar from behind them. Shiro turns and looks up in time to see the Black Lion fly over the building, flanked by the Red, Blue, and Yellow Lions.

They both watch in awe from the balcony as the Lions fight. They watch them form Voltron and take the fight to the sky.

At one point, the mech aims its chest cannon at the conference hall where Shiro and Sky are standing.

Before it fires, Voltron appears between them, thrusting its sword into the cannon. Pidge immediately disables the self-destruct with an EMP pulse and it powers down. 

They disband into the five Lions to haul the disabled mech to the Lion hanger.


	3. Launch Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Paladins spend their last day on Earth. Pidge helps Allura prepare for a date with Lance while Shiro and Keith reminisce. Meanwhile, Luca awakens and gives them some shocking news.

Shiro stands in front of the briefing room four hours after the attack with the entire Atlas crew in attendance.

“Hello again," he begins. "In light of the attack earlier tonight, it has been decided that the launch date for the Atlas will be moved to the morning after tomorrow. Tomorrow will be your last day on Earth so go. Enjoy it while you can. Be with the ones you love. We won’t be seeing it for a long time.”

~

The following morning, Lance sits at a table in the Garrison lounge absentmindedly stirring his coffee while Hunk rambles on and on about some new TV show that was made in the six months they’ve been rebuilding.

“It’s just amazing how much they got so wrong!” Hunk laughs. “Plus, I think they’re hinting at a relationship between Keith and Allura.”

“What?!” Lance snaps in alarm. "No, it should be Lance and Allura!"

“Oh right, you were going to ask Allura out; weren’t you?” Hunk asks him. “And she turned you down, didn’t she?”

“She didn’t turn me down,” Lance says mutters. “I never asked her.”

“You chickened out?!” Hunk asks.

“Well I was going to, but she’s been spending all her time since we got back from Cuba in the med bay,” Lance tells him. “Maybe it’s just not the right time.”

“Not the right time?!” Hunk exclaims. “Lance, you heard Shiro. We ship out tomorrow to fight the Galra! There is no other time!”

Hunk stands up.

“What… HEY!”

Hunk grabs Lance by the front of his uniform and drags him up and out of his chair.

“You are asking her on a date today, and that is final young man!”

Hunk drags Lance all the way to med bay where Allura stands with Romelle in front of the window of Luca’s room. 

He promptly let’s go of Lance’s uniform and plants him firmly behind Allura.

“Um… hey Allura,” Lance says nervously.

Allura and Romelle turn to look at Lance.

“What is it, Lance?” Allura asks.

“Oh nothing, just checking in,” Lance stammers awkwardly. “So… how are things?”

“Not well,” Allura admits sadly. “The pilot from last night died early this morning.”

“I’m… I’m sorry. Th…that’s terrible,” Lance stutters nervously. “I don’t want to take up your time so…”

Allura turns back to the window as Lance turns to walk away. He bumps into Hunk, who promptly turns him around and shoves him in Allura’s direction. Lance stops himself before he crashes into her.

“Er… actually, I was wondering if… if you want to… you could have dinner with me tonight,” Lance rambles out nervously, getting her attention. “… And my family! Me and my family…My mom’s cooking for our last night on Earth together, and I thought maybe you could… you know, join us.”

Allura gives Lance a gentle smile.

“That sounds wonderful, but… I can’t…” she says turning back to the window.

“Allura, you should go and have fun!” Romelle insists. “I’ll keep an eye on Luca.”

“Right! Yeah! All that stuff she said!” Lance chimes in.

“Perhaps dinner would be nice,” Allura says hesitantly. She gives him a little smile. “I’d love to.” 

“Really?! Awesome! So, dinner with me tonight!”

Hunk walks up behind Lance.

“Alright lover boy, now walk away before she changes her mind,” Hunk tells him as he leads Lance away.

~

Pidge is working in her lab on the Atlas with rock music playing when Allura and Romelle find her.

“Pidge? Do you have a moment?” Allura asks.

“Sure, what’s up?” Pidge says as she turns down her music.

“Well you see…” Allura begins. “I have a… a…”

“She has a date!” Romelle exclaims excitedly. “With Pointy Chin! Now where are proper courting vestments obtained on your planet?”

“Wait, a date?! With Lance?!” Pidge asks, as her heart starts aching.

“I was hoping you could assist me in picking out the proper attire for me to wear to such an occasion in accordance with Earth's customs,” Allura says.

“Well, I don’t know if I’ll be much help,” Pidge says looking down at her work bench.

She smiles when she looks up at Allura.

“But I’d be happy to help.”

“Oh, thank you Pidge!!” Allura tells her as she picks Pidge up into a hug.

Pidge smiles as she hugs Allura back.

~

Keith is at the shack packing up some last-minute things. 

Despite the war and everything, the only damage the shack seems to have taken is some of the trees around it are broken and the door had fallen in.

As Keith calmly carries a box into the Black Lion, a smile spreads across his face as he hears the engine of a hoverbike pull up outside. When he steps out of Black, the smile gets wider when he sees Shiro.

“Thought I’d find you here,” Shiro remarks as he gets off the hoverbike.

“Hey Shiro. Thought you were busy prepping for the launch?”

“I was but then they didn’t need me so here I am,” Shiro remarks offhandedly.

“You snuck out, didn’t you?” Keith asks in amusement.

“Sure did,” Shiro admits without remorse.

Shiro helps Keith load the rest of the boxes onto the Black Lion. When they finish, they both sit side by side on the front porch in comfortable silence as they watch the sunset.

“Another sunset, another launch in the morning,” Shiro comments as he remembers the morning of the Kerberos Launch.

“Except this time, I’m going with you,” Keith remarks, eyes downcast. “Instead of staying behind.”

Shiro looks at Keith then. He can see the pained look that seems to cast a shadow over Keith as he stares into the distance.

Shiro can’t help but wonder, not for the first time, what happened after he left for Kerberos. What little he knows, he gleaned from Lance which makes him question the validity of it. He could probably ask Iverson or try to find Keith’s file, but he kinda wants to hear it from Keith. At the same time, he’s afraid of what he’ll hear. Plus, Keith has already said he didn’t want to talk about anything from that time and Shiro wants to respect it.

“Hey…”

Shiro puts his left arm around Keith’s shoulders and pulls him into Shiro’s side.

“I’m glad you're with me this time. I couldn’t ask for a better second-in-command.”

Keith smiles and looks up at Shiro.

Time seems to stand still as they look in each other’s eyes, Keith’s purple eyes drowning in Shiro’s gray ones. Neither of them resists as they both slowly lean into each other. Their eyes flutter closed as they move close enough to feel each other’s breath on their lips.

“Man! You can be a really hard guy to find when you want to be…!”

Quickly, they pull away from each other with a blush as Lance appears out of nowhere.

That's when Lance notices Shiro.

“Oh, hi Shiro!”

Then he looks at how close they’re sitting and the way Shiro is blushing.

“Er… am I interrupting?”

‘Yes!’ Keith mouths to Shiro, who snorts before they both turn toward Lance.

"No not at all..."

“Hey Lance…"

"Whoa!”

Shiro and Keith both jump when they see Lance wearing what looks like a kitchen organizer for a belt with various kitchen utensils on it, a bunch of pots and pans all over him, and what looks like a chain of sausages strung around his neck.

“What the hell are you wearing?!” Keith asks.

“Coran made it for me…” Lance tells them.

“Yep, sounds about right…” Shiro states.

“It’s for my date with Allura tonight,” Lance tells them.

“You’re going on a date with Allura?” Keith asks him. “Wow!”

“Well done, Lance!” Shiro tells him.

“Thanks but it could be our last,” Lance says downcast. “I can’t keep all these Altean customs straight.”

“Look, if she’s going out with you it’s because she likes you,” Shiro tells Lance.

“The annoying, stupid, Earth version of you,” Keith teases.

Lance laughs.

“So you guys are watching the sunset?” Lance asks them.

“Yeah,” Shiro says as the three of them look out at the horizon.

“Might be awhile before we see one again,” Keith adds.

“Yeah… I’m really going to miss this place,” Lance admits.

“That’s why we’ve gotta end this war,” Keith says.

A smile spreads across his face.

“And we’re going to do it as we’ve always done. Together. With the Lance that always has my back. The Lance who knows exactly who he is...”

He looks at Lance then.

“And what he has to offer.”

Lance gives Keith a reassured smile.

“Thanks Keith,” Lance tells him as he stands up.

“Anytime,” Keith tells him.

“I’ll just let you get back to... what you were doing then…”

Lance leaves.

“Later!”

Shiro snorts as soon as Lance’s out of earshot and the two of them dissolve into laughter.

Keith looks up at Shiro when their laughter dies down. They drift in again, only to be interrupted again; this time by the sound of Shiro’s phone telling him he has a message followed by several others.

“Seriously?! Who's on fire?!” Shiro asks in exasperation as Keith laughs.

His laughter dies when he sees Shiro’s face morph into a serious look.

“What’s up?” Keith asks.

Shiro looks up at Keith.

“The Altean pilot’s awake.”

Keith’s eyes widened in surprise.

“Want a lift?”

~

Allura arrives at Lance’s wearing an outfit Pidge helped her pick out from the clothes they bought for the trip to Cuba. His mother greets her and immediately invites her in.

“Wow… you look amazing!” Lance says breathlessly.

“Thank you,” Allura tells him. “You look nice too.”

“Well, it’s no Altean vestments,” Lance jokes, making Allura laugh.

They sit down to dinner and Lance’s siblings immediately start telling stories about Lance again, much to his annoyance.

Afterward, Lance approaches Allura.

“You wanna go for a walk?” Lance asks her. “I can show you some of the spots I didn’t show you when the others were here.”

They walk through a pedestrian road with bistro lights strung across it.

“I guess they still haven’t gotten power to this area yet,” Lance says. “You should see this place when the lights are lit... It’s amazing.”

A few seconds later, the lights magically turn on.

“Oh hey, they must have just fixed them!” Lance exclaims.

“Oh Lance, you were right! They are amazing!” Allura breathes. “Like little…”

She looks at him for a moment.

“What are they called again? The little bugs that glow.”

“Fireflies,” Lance tells her with a smile.

As they walk under a tree in bloom, suddenly something hits the tree right before flowers from the tree start to fall down gracefully.

“How beautiful!” Allura tells Lance with wonder.

As they walk along the beach, Lance spots a large sand dollar lying on the beach in their path.

“Oh hey!”

“What is it?” Allura asks curiously as he picks it up.

“This is called a sand dollar,” Lance explains. “They’re a type of deep sea animal.”

“So it is a living thing?” Allura asks.

“Only if you see one under water,” Lance says. “If they’re white and you’re looking at it on dry land, it’s not alive anymore.”

As they walk along the beach, Lance and Allura find even more shells; most of which Lance knows the names of.

“Wow Lance, you know a lot about shells."

Lance smirks.

“Well, I’m a master freediver, so I would hope so,” he boasts.

“Why would you need diving to be free and how do you become a master of it?” Allura asks in confusion.

“No, it’s not diving that’s free,” Lance tells her in amusement. “Freediving. All one word.”

“So what is it?” Allura asks.

“Basically, it means I can hold my breath underwater for a really, really long time at really deep depths,” Lance tells her.

“So you are a fully trained and certified guard of life and are capable of holding your breath for a prolonged amount of time under water? That is quite impressive. I see now why Blue chose you. She is the Guardian of Water after all.”

“It is impressive, isn’t it…” Lance agrees, his smile faltering as he lets that truth sink in.

Soon enough, they reach one of Lance’s favorite parks in town.

Now, all the trees are dead.

“Wow, this place used to be so beautiful,” Lance tells Allura wistfully.

“It’s all my fault the Galra did this to your home,” Allura states sadly.

“No, it’s not your fault,” Lance tells her firmly. “Besides, meeting you was probably one of the best things to ever happen to me.”

Allura walks up to the biggest tree in the park and places her hand on it. Lance watches in awe as Allura heals the tree and then the entire park.

“Wow,” Lance breathes.

“When we were out there, fighting the Galra,” Allura began. “I somehow felt like… like we were a family. Each of us was alone, but we were alone together… But here I see everyone already has a family and a home to return to when this war is over. Everyone except me… and for the first time… I feel uncertain about what my future holds…”

She smiles bitterly.

“It's funny, I used to believe that the team relied on me… that I needed to be strong for everyone else… but now I see that it was **_I_** who needed all of you.”

Allura looks up at Lance.

“You are my strength.”

“Allura, you are not alone,” Lance begins, “and if I have anything to say about it, you’ll never be alone. I don’t care if this is the first date.”

Lance looks at her.

“Allura, I love you…I have for a long time. I want to be your family. You heard what Iverson said last night. Earth can be your home for as long as you need it. Or we can go anywhere you want to go. It doesn’t matter. I would follow you across the universe.”

Allura looks at Lance.

“You truly feel that way?”

Lance takes her hand and places it over his heart.

“With all my heart,” he tells her.

Allura smiles as they both lean in and their lips meet.

They hear a beeping sound then and look over to find Beezer in the garden. It beeps up at them expectantly.

“I think he wants us to smile,” Lance says.

He and Allura smile as Beezer takes their picture and prints it out for them.

“Thank you,” Lance tells it as it zooms off.

Beezer rounds a corner out of sight and earshot to where Pidge is hiding with Sky.

Confident Lance and Allura’s date is going to go just fine from here out, she, Sky, and Beezer slip away without being seen.

“You gonna be alright, girl?” Sky asks sincerely as they walk to where the Green Lion sits cloaked. “I mean, that’s the guy you like over there.”

“It doesn’t matter how I feel about Lance,” Pidge tells her. “I want him to be happy… even if it’s not with me…”

Sky puts a comforting arm around Pidge’s shoulder.

Pidge fishes what looks like a video phone out of her pocket and hands it to Sky.

“Here. It's a com that’ll reach anywhere in the universe. You can use it to keep in touch with your brother when we leave.”

“Can I use it to keep in touch with you?” Sky asks wryly.

Pidge smiles.

“I’d like that!”

The two hug when they get back to the Green Lion. When Sky pulls away, she gives Pidge two playful punches to the shoulder as she leaves.

“Go give em hell, Pidge!”

Pidge gives her a mock salute before running inside Green and carefully taking off.

~

Back at the Garrison, Keith and Shiro stand outside the Altean’s room with Coran, Sam, and Romelle.

“She’s stabilized but she refuses to speak to any of the doctors,” Sam tells them. “I was hoping a familiar face might put her at ease. Maybe you could talk to her, Romelle.”

“I will try,” Romelle says.

Luca looks up when Romelle enters the room.

“I am so glad to see you are alright, Luca,” Romelle tells her. “We can help…What happened to you? Where is the colony?”

Luca glares at Romelle.

“So you can betray them yet again?”

Romelle looks like she’s been slapped.

Outside the room, all four men frown, having heard everything.

“What?” Romelle asks.

“You abandoned us, Romelle,” Luca accuses. “And for the Paladins of Voltron! The very ones who almost killed our savior, Lotor.”

“ _Almost_ killed…” Keith mutters in confusion.

“No! It is not like that!” Romelle tells Luca.

“You’ve sided with the great destroyers!” Luca accuses. “She told us of their lies! She’s going to fix it all! She’ll reunite us with Altea! Just like she reunited us with Lotor!”

Both Keith and Shiro gasp at this.

“You people don’t stand a chance against…”

Luca is cut off suddenly with a gasp.

Keith stares as he watches a swirl of red energy surround Luca seconds before she suddenly falls over dead. It all happens so fast, Keith could only watch.

“Looks like your hunch was right, Keith,” Shiro says as he turns to the man beside him. “Honerva has them completely brain….”

He trails off when he sees the look of confused horror on Keith’s face.

“Keith?”

Shiro puts his hand on Keith’s shoulder and Keith jumps.

He looks at Shiro.

“Shiro…”

“Are you ok?”

Keith looks back into the room and sees the hand is gone.

“I truly don’t know…"

~

“I had a wonderful time,” Allura tells Lance as he returns her to the Garrison.

“I’m glad,” Lance tells her.

Allura opens the door to the quarters she’s been sharing with Coran and Romelle and they both stop when they see the grave looks on Romelle and Coran’s faces.

“Oh no…” Lance mutters.

They immediately go to the briefing room where Shiro and Keith are waiting with Pidge and Hunk. Once there, they break the news to them.

“Lotor is alive?! How?!” Lance asks.

“We don’t know that yet,” Keith tells them. “But we do know this; Honerva has the colony completely brainwashed into believing that **_we’re_ ** the enemy. Freeing the Alteans from the colony isn’t going to be as easy as we thought.”

“If Honerva did send that beast, then our mission must change!” Allura insists.

“No, we have a plan and we have to stick to it,” Shiro says, gently. “If Honerva **_is_ **behind this, then I’m sure we'll find her along the way.”

“Or she’ll find us,” Allura adds.

~

The following morning the entire crew of the Atlas stands beside said ship with the five Voltron Lions sitting behind them in front of a crowd of well over a hundred people composed of friends and family who have come to see the crew off.

Sam Holt steps up to speak.

“This will be perhaps the most defining moment in our history,” Sam says. “The day humankind reached beyond its own world to help the immense universe of which we inhabit such a small part.”

“In the blink of an eye, the world as we knew it became much larger than we ever thought possible,” Keith begins, “And now, we rise up to join the fight beside so many others different from us, but of like minds. To stand firm in the face of tyranny.”

“For all deserve to decide their own future,” Allura adds. “As we have decided to spend ours ensuring the freedom of the universe.”

“Each and every one of you has given something to this fight,” Shiro states. “Many have been lost, but not in vain. Because through their sacrifice, many more will live on.”

Shiro steps forward as he continues.

“I’m making this promise now. We will return."

"Triumphant.”

Hunk, Lance, and many others say goodbye to their loved ones remaining on Earth before boarding the Atlas with the rest of the crew. Hunk and Lance's mom's exchange phone numbers as they say good-bye to their kids.

The Paladins of Voltron stand in front of Shiro’s post on the bridge as take-off is initiated. Once they’re in orbit, they head out of the solar system.


	4. Prisoner's Dilemma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Atlas crew runs into a snag enlisting Galra help due to Keith’s ½ Galra status. While investigating something for the Galra, Keith and the others encounter a nightmare Keith would rather forget.

Shiro and the Paladins enter the command room of a Galra outpost where the MFE fighters have detained the leader after taking control of the base.

“Spare me your hostage speech,” she spits after they tried to reason with her. “You’ve attained victory and I accept defeat.”

“It doesn’t have to be victory or death,” Keith tells her. “I know it’s the Galra way but…”

“And what do you know of the Galra?!” she snaps.

“My mother is Galra and…”

Keith’s cut off when the Galra leader laughs.

“This worthless trash thinks its words mean anything to me,” she declares.

Keith doesn’t flinch. 

“My words may not be worth much to you, but that doesn’t make what I’m saying any less true,” Keith tells her. “You don’t have to die to obtain peace. There’s a better way.”

She blatantly ignores him and turns to Shiro.

“If you are going to imprison me, just do it and get it over with!” she snaps.

Shiro's fist is visibly shaking from the effort not to punch her.

“Put her with the others until she’s more willing to cooperate,” he tells the MFE fighters.

~

Shiro punches the hanger door when they get back to the Atlas.

“That's the fifth Galra leader this movement that refuses to listen to reason because of some quiznaking prejudices!” Pidge complains angrily.

“I swear, if one more of them calls Keith "worthless trash"…” Shiro growls.

“That is how it is,” Acxa tells them with a shrug. “Half breeds are inferior beings among the Galra.”

“So basically, second-class citizens,” Hunk states angrily.

“It does explain how Lotor was able to manipulate his generals into serving him,” Lance ponders.

He looks nervously at Acxa. “No offense.”

Acxa just shakes her head.

“None taken,” Acxa agrees.

“Maybe I shouldn’t come with you guys the next time you meet with a Galra leader...”

The whole group looks at Keith then as he stands quietly off to the side with his arms folded while looking at the floor.

“Keith, no…” Allura tells him gently.

“Keith, don’t tell me you’re buying into this bullshit?” Pidge asks in dismay.

“But if my presence is what’s stopping us from forming alliances with the Galra…”

He trails off when he feels Shiro's hand on his shoulder.

“Keith, that’s not how this works,” Shiro tells him.

“You’re our friend, Keith,” Hunk adds.

"If they can't get over you being part Galra, then that's their problem; not ours," Lance adds.

“We’re standing by you, no matter what,” Shiro promises.

Keith gives them a reassured smile without looking up from the floor.

“I am more surprised you are concerned more for the alliance and not constantly being put down for being half Galra,” Allura admits.

Keith just shrugs.

“Not like this is the first time we’ve had problems because I’m part Galra,” Keith states. “This is just the same issue, just opposite.”

Keith starts walking away.

“Besides, I’m kinda used to getting called unpleasant names. "Worthless trash" doesn’t even make the top 10 list of worst things I’ve been called in my life.”

Lance flinches as the others watch him leave without another word.

~

Almost a week (and several more Galra leaders turning their noses up at Keith) later, they’ve taken control of Warlord Lahn’s base on Ryker.

As soon as Keith mentions his mom is Galra and they’re both Blades of Marmora, Lahn sneers.

“The mutinous Blades have all but perished,” he remarks. “Are they so diminished in numbers that they’re forced to enlist a half breed and his mommy to join?”

Shiro looks at Keith who grits his teeth at the insult to his mom's honor before looking at the floor.

They're interrupted by a beeping sound.

“Guys, I’m picking up an incoming communication,” Pidge tells them.

“Patch it through,” Shiro tells her.

“Yordam bering exus,” they hear it say over and over again.

“It’s an emergency protocol built into the sentries when they’re under distress,” Lahn tells them.

He turns toward them.

“Has your Voltron Coalition attacked them as well?”

“No,” Keith tells him. “ _We_ didn’t.”

“Pidge, see if you can reopen the hailing frequency,” Shiro suggests.

“I’m trying, but no response,” Pidge tells him. “I’m locating the transmission’s origin, but the EMPs we set off have done a number on the communications systems.”

Suddenly there’s a rapid beeping. Pidge looks up at the screen.

“We got a com signature!” She turns to Lahn. “Do you recognize this ship?”

“Yes, it’s Klytax V-Three,” Lahn tells them. “It’s one of the 15 ships I sent on an assignment six phoebs ago. They all disappeared. We assumed them dead.”

“It looks like they’re not dead after all,” Keith states. “We need to get out there.”

He turns to Shiro.

“Shiro, how long until the Atlas is ready to launch again?”

“An hour, two tops,” Shiro answers. “We’ve finished processing all of the Galra, but we still need to prepare the planet to continue operating on its own.”

Shiro looks at Keith.

“This is our mission and we need to finish up here before we can move on.”

“Then Voltron will go,” Keith tells him.

“Voltron is going to save the Galra?” Lahn asks, sounding skeptical. “My fleet will never believe Voltron was there to help. They’d fight you until their last breath.”

“I know,” Keith tells him slyly. “That’s why you’re coming with us.”

~

As the Paladins return to their Lions to leave, Shiro pulls Keith aside.

“Are you sure about this, Keith?” Shiro asks him anxiously. “I don’t like this. If you wait a few hours, we can join you.”

“You know as well as I do that this can’t wait,” Keith tells him. “We’re never going to earn the Galra’s trust if we make them feel like they’re needs are second to ours.”

“I know,” Shiro says with a resigned sigh.

He and Keith do their hug.

“Just… promise me you’ll be careful, OK?” he whispers into Keith’s ear.

“I will,” Keith promises before they let go.

“We’ll catch up to you if we can,” Shiro promises.

Keith gives him a thumbs up before running up the Black Lion’s jaw with Lahn and Kosmo.

Shiro stays and watches as they form Voltron and leave.

~

“What was this fleet’s mission when they left?” Keith asks calmly as if Kosmo isn’t growling in Lahn’s face.

“They were out gathering munitions,” Lahn tells them.

“Weapons? Were you buying or stealing them?” Allura asks him.

Lahn narrows his eyes at the accusatory tone in her voice.

“The Galra Empire is at war with _itself_ ,” Lahn answers her with the same level of disrespect she just gave him. “We have to do what we can to survive. But _if_ you **must** know, they were salvaging weapons from an abandoned Galra base.”

“I have visuals,” Pidge says.

They come to a huge field of debris and wreckage. Scattered among the wreckage they can see 3 fully intact Galra cruisers floating aimlessly.

“Everyone, stay alert!” Keith tells them.

“What happened here?” Lance asks.

“Uh, Warlord Lahn, didn’t you say there were **_15_ ** cruisers?” Hunk asks. “Where are the rest of them?”

“I’m not detecting any signs of life or bio-rhythms on the closest two ships, but there _are_ some signals coming from the ship at the end,” Pidge tells them.

“That’s Klytax V-Three, where the call came from,” Lahn tells them.

Keith brings up the comm.

“Hailing Galra Cruiser Klytax V-Three. This is Keith, Pilot of the Black Lion of Voltron. Do you copy?”

Silence.

“This is Warlord Lahn, your commander,” Lahn says after a dobosh. “Do you copy?”

They get a response.

“Yordam bering exus,” the same voice as before repeats.

“Whoever's in there, we need to find them and get them out,” Keith says as they head for the last ship.

“If I can access the ship’s security network, we should be able to find out what happened here,” Pidge says.

Keith unlocks Lahn’s cuffs.

“Paladins, Lahn and I are gonna head in first to make sure the entry point is safe,” Keith tells them. “You guys jetpack in behind us.”

“Copy.”

Kosmo teleports Keith and Lahn inside the cargo hold of the ship.

“We’re all clear,” Keith tells them when he sees no danger. “Lahn, open the airlock doors.”

Lahn does as Keith asks and the other Paladins jetpack in.

“Pidge, are you picking up any signals?” Keith asks.

“There are multiple biorhythms, but they’re intermittent, almost random,” she tells him. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

“Ok, we need to split up to find any survivors,” Keith says. “Hunk and Lance, clear the aft of the ship. I’ll take the bow and work my way toward you. Pidge and Allura, take Lahn to go through the security logs. Find out what happened here.”

“I don’t like taking orders on my own ship.” Lahn tells him.

“Duly noted,” Keith tells him before he and Kosmo teleport to the bow of the ship.

"Wasn't giving **_you_ ** an order, but stay mad I guess..." Keith mutters to himself.

~

For the next hour, Keith and Kosmo search the bow of the ship while Hunk and Lance search the aft and Pidge and Allura try to access the computer with Lahn.

“It’s useless!” Lahn says with a sigh of frustration. “The ship is in lock-down and the systems can’t be rebooted. We’ll need to contact my base for the security keys.”

“OK, _or_ we can just do this,” Pidge tells him before effortlessly hacking into the ship's computer.

When the security feed comes up, it keeps blinking off and on.

“What’s wrong with it?” Allura asks.

“I’m not sure,” Pidge admits. “It appears to be corrupted. Let me see if I can clean it up.”

While Pidge cleans up the security feed, Lahn flies up to look at the debris and wreckage that was his fleet.

“Everything I’ve spent years fighting for, taken away in an instant,” Lahn says.

“I too have lost everything,” Allura tells him. “My planet, my family. But when the Paladins arrived at the Castle of Lions--.”

“You’ve never had to earn your power! It’s always been given to you!!” Lahn cuts her off. “You’re looking for something you once had: security, peace, happiness. Those things have NEVER been part of a Galra soldier’s life! You and I are not the same.”

Allura thinks for a moment before she speaks again.

“You want something to call your own,” she tells him. “Believe it or not, I understand that, but there are other ways to get it than through force. That’s what the Coalition is offering.”

~

“The escape pods are still here,” Hunk observes.

“Yeah, but the _Galra_ aren’t,” Lance says. “Everyone is gone, but no one escaped in one of these things.”

“Ugh! That’s creepy!” Hunk states.

They enter what looks like a kitchen with claw marks everywhere.

Meanwhile at the bow of the ship, Keith finds an enormous hole through the wall into an adjacent hallway.

“What could have done this?” Keith asks Kosmo.

Suddenly there’s a loud banging sound to his right.

Keith follows it until he finds a sentry caught in a door.

~

“I think I’ve got something,” Pidge says as she shows Lahn and Allura a clip. “The soldier’s here, but after the flash, he’s gone, but now the shadow is on the other side of the screen.”

“Perhaps it is from another soldier?” Allura suggests.

“I don’t think so,” Pidge tells her. “That’s less than a tenth of a second.”

Then Pidge spots something.

“Hold on. It looks like the trajectory of the lighting angles combined with the proximity to the soldier are distorting the shadows shape.”

Pidge quickly cleans it up and they see an image of a creature that’s huge with long bulky arms and a tail.

“What _is_ that **_thing_ **?” Lahn asks.

Hunk and Lance hear a snarl coming from nearby.

They follow the sounds and find more claw marks down the hallway. They peak inside a room and have to stop themselves from screaming when they see this huge creature gripping the Galra crystal for the ship and siphoning quintessence off of it, making it grow bigger and mutate.

Hunk and Lance start to nope out of there when suddenly Pidge contacts them over the radio, giving away their location.

“Guys, be on the lookout for a giant deadly monster!”

“We believe it is what attacked the crew. Avoid at all costs,” Allura tells them.

“Lance, Hunk, do you copy?” Pidge asks.

“It’s a little late for that, man…” Hunk whimpers before it attacks them with a roar.

Pidge and Allura can hear Hunk and Lance’s screams over the com.

Right before it reaches them, it disappears.

“Guys, are you okay?! Lance? Hunk?” Pidge asks frantically.

“We’re okay,” Hunk tells her while Lance whimpers nearby.

Pidge immediately contacts Keith.

“Keith, we just contacted Hunk and Lance. They **saw** something!” she warns him. “Be advised…”

Suddenly her connection with Keith gets cut off.

“Keith? Keith, can you hear me?”

Hunk and Lance fly into the room panting.

“Are you two okay?” Allura asks.

“We’re fine, but we need to get out of here now!” Lance tells them.

“Why, what happened?!” Pidge asks.

“It was… a monster…” Hunk tells them. “Blue flash. Almost died.”

“Wait, where’s Keith?” Lance asks.

“Keith and I were in communication right before we got disconnected,” Pidge tells them. “It must have been that **thing**. You said you saw the creature, right?”

“Oh yeah!” Lance says. “Face to horrifying face!”

“We just watched that thing take out one of my men in an instant,” Lahn points out. “How did you two escape unscathed?”

Suddenly, the whole ship starts to rumble and shake.

“What’s happening now?!” Hunk asks.

“The ship is moving,” Pidge says. “And it’s heading toward Lahn’s base!”

At that moment, Keith and Kosmo teleport in.

“Oh, Keith! Good, you’re here!” Hunk exclaims. “There’s a monster on the ship!”

Keith looks stricken as he flies over to Lahn.

“The base you sent this fleet to plunder; was it Warlord Ranveig’s?”

“Yes, it was,” Lahn confirms.

“Quiznak!”

“Keith, what is going on?” Allura asks.

“The creature on this ship is a super-weapon designed to destroy the Galra,” Keith explains. “And ONLY Galra.”

“Warlord Ranveig would never create such a thing!” Lahn declares.

“Ranveig found the creature in the quantum abyss and experimented on it using the quintessence he stole from Lotor,” Keith explains. “He trained it to take out his Galran enemies, but…he could never control it. The beast couldn’t differentiate between adversaries and allies.”

“Wait, how do you know so much about this super-monster-weapon-thingy?” Lance asks.

“Because Krolia and I let it loose so we could escape Ranvig’s base,” Keith says.

His shoulders slump a little.

“This is all my fault. I’m sorry.”

Lahn narrows his eyes at Keith.

“It’s what you’ve wanted from the beginning!” Lahn accuses. “Something to get rid of the Galra for you!”

“I don’t know what it’s going to take to get it through your thick skull, but we’re **_NOT_ ** your enemy!” Lance tells Lahn.

"Seriously, why would Keith purposely release something that would... oh, I don't know... **kill him too**!?" Hunk asks.

Keith looks at Pidge.

“Pidge, can you initiate the self-destruct protocol?” Keith asks the youngest Paladin. “We need to destroy this ship and the monster along with it and we need to do it immediately.”

“Ok, I’m on it!” Pidge tells him. “Once I initiate, we’ll have two doboshes to exit the ship.”

“Two hours? Isn’t that too long?” Lance asks.

“ **Minutes**!” everyone else corrects.

“What?! That’s not enough time!”

“Let’s move!” Pidge yells as she initiates it.

When they turn to leave, the monster is blocking their path. The monster uses the head from a sentry to speak for it.

“All Galra must perish!”

It growls as it attacks Lahn. The other Paladins move out of the way and Allura grabs Lahn with her whip and pulls him to safety right before the creature lands on him. It turns to attack Keith then, but Kosmo attacks it before getting thrown off with a yelp.

The others manage to fly through the door with Hunk carrying Kosmo, but it shuts before Keith and Lahn can get out; trapping them in the room with the creature.

“Pidge, how much time before the ship explodes?” Lance asks.

“Sixty ticks,” she tells him.

“We’ve gotta get them outta there!” Hunk says.

“This should do it,” Pidge says as she hacks the door.

It starts to work, but then suddenly it doesn’t.

“That thing overrode my protocol!” she says in shock.

“We can take it down with our bayards,” Lance says as he and Hunk pull theirs out.

“Keith, hang on!” Allura yells through the door.

“We’re coming for ya!” Lance adds.

“Stand away from the door!” Hunk tells them.

Keith and Lahn do what they're told as Hunk and Lance open fire on the door.

The creature moves to kill Lahn who is backed into a corner.

“Victory or death!” Lahn yells.

Suddenly Keith shoves Lahn behind him with his sword extended in front of him. His bayard upgrades at that moment to what looks like a railgun similar to the Red Lion’s that he uses to blast the creature through the wall.

“Do you trust me yet?” Keith asks Lahn pointedly.

Lahn narrows his eyes at Keith.

“Paladins, clear the hallway! We’re coming through!” Keith commands.

They do as they’re told and suddenly a huge cannon blast shoots through the door.

“Let’s go!” Keith tells them urgently as he and Lahn fly through at top speed.

The other Paladins follow close behind.

“10 ticks!” Pidge says.

“The cargo bay where we entered is the nearest exit point!” Allura says.

Suddenly they hear growling behind them as the creature chases after them.

“5 ticks!” Pidge yells. “We’ll never make it!”

“Hang on!”

Keith points his new arm cannon straight ahead of him and fires.

The Paladins are all sucked through the opening of the ship out into space and a strip of metal covers the hole right before the ship explodes. Right before the explosion reaches the creature, it teleports.

“Come on, let’s move!” Keith yells.

The five Lions are out of range right before an even bigger explosion envelopes the ship but leaves the other two intact.

~

Back on planet Ryker, Warlord Lahn speaks to the Galra they’ve already helped while the Paladins and Shiro look on from nearby.

“The Galra Empire may be decimated, but its warriors are still needed to maintain stability,” Lahn tells them. “Twice, the Paladins of Voltron have risked their lives to save mine, yet I still questioned their intent. I was wrong,” Lahn admits. “I pledge loyalty to a united front with the Voltron Coalition and I encourage you all to do the same.”

~

“I’ve been going through the ship’s log and there doesn’t seem to be any sign of Honerva or her robeasts,” Pidge tells them after the Atlas is already on its way.

“Let’s keep on course,” Shiro states. “We’re bound to run into her sooner or later.”

~

“Nice work out there, Keith,” Shiro tells him as they walk through the hallway of the Atlas after their briefing ends. “Thanks to Lahn, the rest of the Galra we’ve helped as well as the ones on all the colonies in this sector have finally joined the Coalition. We can finally move onto a new sector.”

“I’m glad they’ve come around,” Keith tells him distantly without looking up from the floor.

Shiro notices.

“Hey,” he says as he places a hand on Keith’s shoulder. “Everything OK?”

“I’m fine, it’s just…”

Keith stops and leans against the wall with his hands in his pockets as he looks out the nearby window.

“I know I had to destroy it... but I kinda feel sorry for thing.”

He looks down at the floor again.

“He didn’t ask to be made…”

Shiro looks down at Keith understandingly.

“We’re not talking about the creature anymore, are we?” Shiro asks, leaning against the wall beside Keith with his left hand braced against the wall.

“No…” Keith confirms without looking up from the floor.

Shiro knows there’s nothing he can say about this. It’s an old wound and an old scar that Shiro knows will take a lot more time to heal. Keith finding his mom won’t suddenly erase the damage Keith’s time in foster care did to him or the years he spent being put down by everyone simply for being different.

That doesn’t mean Shiro won’t try.

“Hey…” Shiro says softly as he uses his prosthetic hand to guide Keith’s chin so that he’s looking up at Shiro. “For what it's worth... I'm glad he was made.”

Shiro gives Keith a soft smile as he gently brushes the younger man's chin with his thumb.

Keith smiles up at Shiro appreciatively.

Once again, time seems to stand still as they stare into each other’s eyes. A light blush spreads across Shiro’s face as he leans in toward Keith. Their eyes close and their noses bump clumsily as their heads drift together.

“Shiro, there you are!”

Shiro and Keith instantly pull away from each other as Coran suddenly appears in the hallway.

“Yep, here I am,” Shiro says flatly before they turn toward Coran.

“I wanted to speak with you regarding a possible diplomatic opportunity,” Coran tells him without looking up from his datapad.

“Can it wait?!” Shiro asks Coran in exasperation.

“It really can’t,” Coran tells him, still not looking up. “The deadline for this is time sensitive.”

Shiro sighs in defeat.

“ _Fine_ , I’ll be right there. Just give me a moment, will you?”

Coran walks away.

“Duty calls?” Keith asks sympathetically as soon as Coran is out of earshot.

“Yeah…”

“It’s ok, I need to meet with Kolivan and the Blades to discuss how to move forward now that most of the Empire has joined the Coalition,” Keith says as he pushes himself off of the wall. “Then after that I’m supposed to check that the MFE Fighters are charged and ready to go.”

“The downsides of being in charge,” Shiro jokes as he turns in the direction Coran headed.

Keith laughs as he walks in the opposite direction.

~

Meanwhile back at the wreckage of the Galra cruisers, the creature teleported itself onto one of the other cruisers to avoid the blast.

Now that the Lions and the Atlas are gone, it teleports to the nearest fighter and sets a course for Riker. However before he gets too far, a pinkish purple wormhole opens up directly in front of the fighter.

When the fighter comes out, the creature finds itself in a place filled with blinding, white light.

The creature teleports out onto the ground around a pyramid and comes face to face with Honerva.

“Kill all Galra!” it uses the sentry head still in its hand to say.

“Your wish to kill the Galra is an admirable one,” Honerva tells it calmly. “You just need a little more… guidance.”

Honerva holds out a rift creature in her hand and the rift creature jumps from her hand into the creature before her. A second later, the creature glows purple before crouching down to let Honerva pet it.


	5. The Revolution of Pidge

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Atlas crew is invited to join a diplomatic ball in the Paladins' honor. Pidge and her mother have been having issues with Pidge being a Paladin after the robeast explosion. When a monster attacks the ball, it's up to Pidge to stop it.

The Atlas lands on a planet with two moons covered entirely with lush rainforests, rivers, and oceans. They land in a clearing that looks like it was once an airfield; the only place big enough for the Atlas to land. At the far end of the field stand a group of birdlike people with a pair of wings on their backs, a pair of arms and legs with sharp claws, and beaks. Their feathers range in every shade of pink, white, purple, black, blue, and yellow imaginable and atop their heads sits a proud plumage that varies in size and shape. Their clothing is made up entirely of Greco-Romanesk tunics in various colors and lengths, depending on age and style preference.

One of them with pale pink and white feathers wearing a long, flowing, pale blue tunic and a simple flower crown of pale blue flowers approaches as Shiro exits the Atlas with the Paladins of Voltron and Coran at his side.

“Voltron Coalition! Welcome to Rada! I am Neera, leader of the Avian people.”

Shiro bows a greeting.

“I’m Captain Takashi Shirogane and these are the Paladins of Voltron and Coran. Thank you for your hospitality and your invitation, Your Majesty. You have a fascinating planet.”

“Why thank you, Captain.”

“I’m curious.” Pidge begins as she looks around the clearing. “Why does this area look so different from the rest of the planet? I detected several other clearings just like it around the planet.”

Neera smiles.

“Curiosity is not a sin here. They are remnants of a time when our people warred with themselves over trivial things that did not matter.”

“What stopped the wars?” Pidge asks.

“A great plague struck the planet lasting for a meca-phoeb.”

“Er… Don’t you mean ‘deca-phoeb’?” Lance asks.

“No, Their Majesty means ‘meca-phoeb’,” Allura tells him.

“What’s a meca-phoeb?” Hunk asks.

“A meca-phoeb is roughly the equivalent of one of your centuries,” Coran explains.

“So about 100 years or so?” Keith guesses.

“Precisely.”

“Why is this the first we’re hearing this term?” Hunk asks.

“Most likely because it's not a commonly used word,” Pidge theorizes. “The average English speaker doesn’t use“a century”, they say “100 years”.”

“Generations lived and died under the plague’s grasp until finally a vaccine was created,” Neera continues. “Those who survived vowed to never take up arms against one another. Places such as this and museums are all that remain of that time so that we do not repeat such things.”

Neera gives them a graceful nod.

“Now, I’m sure your crew must be eager to walk around after such a long journey and I have some business to attend to. I’ll meet with you again at the ball.”

~

“I can’t believe the Avians are throwing a party in our honor!” Hunk says excitedly as the six of them enter their private lounge on the Atlas.

Everyone but Allura has their uniform jacket either unbuttoned at the top (Shiro and Hunk) or completely opened showing their black BDU undershirt (Pidge, Keith, and Lance).

“Yeah, I can’t wait! ” Lance exclaims before flopping down on the couch. “The dancing, the drinks!”

“The food!” Hunk chimes in as he sits beside him. "The engineers."

“It will be a good chance to begin diplomatic talks about joining the Coalition,” Allura adds as she sits on the other side of Lance. "Their food and medicinal resources would prove invaluable to the Coalition."

“I don’t know, I can’t help thinking we shouldn’t be letting our guard down,” Keith states as he and Shiro sit across from them.

“Come on, it’ll be fun,” Shiro tells him with a shrug. “Besides, it would be nice to have people join who we didn’t have to liberate first.”

“Same,” Pidge says sullenly as she leans against the wall by the TV with her hands behind her back. “One less fight for my mom and me to get into.”

“Wait, you and your mother have been fighting?” Allura asks.

“’Arguing’ might be a better word for it,” Pidge adds.

“What are you arguing about?” Keith asks.

“She doesn’t want me to go on patrols alone anymore,” Pidge explains as she crosses her arms over her chest. “And she **_really_ ** didn’t like that I was on that ship as it was self-destructing.”

“I can understand the last one, but doesn’t she realize you’ve literally been doing that for years?” Hunk asks.

“Yeah, without her approval,” Pidge says.

“She knows we’re in a war right?” Keith asks. “Can’t you just go anyway?”

Pidge raises an eyebrow at Keith.

“I just got done being grounded for 6 months because I did that very thing. You want me to get grounded again?”

“Good point,” Keith says.

Pidge sighs and looks at the floor with her arms tucked under her again.

“Mom can be just a little, tiny bit overly protective of me at times.”

“A _little_?” Lance asks with a raised eyebrow.

“Why?” Allura asks.

“It’s… kindof complicated,” Pidge tells them hesitantly.

“We’ve got nothing but time until the party tonight,” Hunk points out to her.

“Come on, Pidge. You know you can trust us,” Shiro tells her reassuringly.

Pidge is quiet for a moment as she thinks of how to answer.

“Did I… or my brother… ever tell you guys that I was born premature?”

“Don’t think so,” Keith tells her.

“This is news to me,” Lance states.

“Same,” Hunk adds.

“Matt and your dad never told me either,” Shiro states.

“What is premature?” Allura asks.

“Premature means Pidge was born before her mom was 37 weeks pregnant,” Shiro explains to her.

“And that is bad, yes?” Allura asks.

“Depends on the baby and how early they were born. Average pregnancy lasts between 37 to 42 weeks," Shiro explains. “The earlier they are born before 37 weeks, the more likely they are to have complications and health problems. Some don’t live for very long while others have almost no complications at all.”

“Just how early are we talking?” Lance asks Pidge.

Pidge hesitates for a moment.

“A little over a month…”

“Holy quiznak! That early?!” Hunk exclaims.

Pidge looks up at them and nods.

“You seem just fine though,” Allura observes.

“Well sure now I do,” Pidge tells them. “But I wasn’t always."

Pidge looks back at the floor.

"When I was little, I got sick so much that Mom had to homeschool me for a while. There were a lot of close calls where we didn’t know if I would make it or not."

There's a brief silence before Pidge continues.

"When I was growing up... I’d let her because I knew it came from a place of love and it didn’t really matter at the time since I didn’t really have any friends and I mostly stayed home anyway. This is the first time I've taken issue with it. So, we argue.”

“Still, it’s a bit much,” Lance says.

“Well, let’s be fair here,” Pidge begins as she crosses her arms once more. “My mom just went from learning her husband and son were missing and presumed dead to her daughter running away from home and disappearing. Then her husband magically returns home sometime later telling her he was abducted by aliens and that both her son who until then was presumed dead and her daughter with a replacement heart are somewhere in space fighting in an intergalactic war…”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold up a minute,” Keith cuts in. “Replacement heart?”

“I had a heart transplant when I was 8,” Pidge says as if it were a minor detail. “Anyway, then she gets placed under house arrest before having the same aliens who abducted her husband and son take over the planet for 3 years, during which said daughter is missing…”

“Whoa! Hold the phone!” Lance cuts her off. “You had a heart transplant when you were 8?! Why?!”

Pidge looks around the room and upon seeing five very concerned faces, decides to explain a little.

“Because I was born over a month premature, the heart I was born with didn’t develop properly. I had a heart defect. It was fine at first, though I _was_ in and out of the hospital a lot for everything from surgeries to colds and I _did_ have to use an oxygen tank for a while. Eventually it began to fail so… transplant.”

“Don’t organ transplants need something to keep the person’s body from rejecting it?” Keith asks tensely.

To that, Pidge purses her lips as she simply reaches just inside the collar of her black BDU shirt and pulls out a medical necklace with her thumb that looks like the bracelet Shiro used to wear. 

“Last thing Dad did before he and Matt left for Kerberos was get me fitted with this. Mom and I picked it up after the launch. There’s a reason I’ve been wearing a lot of shirts with turtle necks.”

Pidge puts it back inside her shirt and then pulls back her sleeve and holds up her wrist to show them the Paladin bracelet she created.

“I also worked with Dad to make my Paladin bracelet double as a medical bracelet. We’re currently working on a way to integrate it into the upgraded Paladin armor I’m working on.”

“You seem to be able to take care of yourself just fine,” Allura states. “Why is your mother so protective of you?”

“She thinks, because of Pidge’s history, that she needs to be taken care of and protected at all times,” Shiro says understandingly.

Pidge nods and looks at the floor.

“She was actually getting better about it, but… I think the Robeast explosion scared her a little.”

Pidge looks back at them again.

“As annoying and frustrating as it is, I understand why she’s so worried and I’m at least trying to appease her but it’s not easy when I literally **_have_ ** to be on the front line. Dad and Matt are trying to help but she’s as stubborn as I am which should tell you how much it works.”

The others all stare at her for a moment.

“Pidge, why is this the first time any of us have been told about this?” Hunk asks her.

“Honestly, I… kinda liked you guys not knowing…”

“People treat you differently when they find out about it, don’t they?” Shiro guesses. “Like it's either contagious or you’re a fragile doll to be placed on a shelf and dusted when needed.”

Pidge looks up at him for a minute in confusion before she remembers.

“That’s right, your disease!” Pidge says.

“Wait, what?”

“Come again?”

“What disease?!”

Keith and Pidge both look at Shiro at the same time.

Shiro chuckles a little and gives them an appreciative smile before nodding.

“Shiro had a terminal illness that was causing his muscles to spasm painfully and degenerate over time” Keith explains as he looks back at the others. 

"It's typically found in adults but for me it started when I was 9," Shiro says. "I managed it with a medical bracelet and therapy but by the time Kerberos happened it was getting worse. I only had a few more years before it would ground me, so to speak."

“In hindsight, it’s probably why the Galra took Shiro’s hand,” Pidge theorizes. “They thought it would keep it from spreading but it didn’t work.”

“Even if I hadn’t died during that fight with Zarkon and the Komar, I likely wouldn’t have lasted much longer before the disease started getting worse,” Shiro states. “The disease was still there, they just bought me more time.”

“When Allura transferred Shiro’s consciousness into his clone, he was cured,” Keith concludes.

“Since Keith and I didn’t tell you, I’m guessing your father or Matt told you?” Shiro asks Pidge.

Pidge snorts.

“Are you kidding?! Dad brags about you at almost every opportunity to anyone who will listen. Mom always jokes it’s like they have another kid…but yeah he did tell me. I never brought it up because you never did.”

Pidge’s alarm goes off then.

“Shoot! I need to go!" Pidge says as she closes her uniform shirt, "I promised my mom I’d let her help me figure out what to wear to this thing tonight since we’re supposed to wear one of those tunic dress things they gave us. After that, I’ll be in the lab until the party if anyone needs me.”

She runs down the hall to the lift.

“Later!”

Allura, Hunk, and Lance look at each other when the lift leaves. Shiro recognizes the look in their eyes.

“I know exactly what you guys are thinking and I’m going to tell you right now, don’t you dare start treating her differently,” Shiro tells them protectively. “Because she’s trusting you guys not to. She knows how to take care of herself. She doesn't need to be protected, she needs to be supported. She needs friends.”

“Honestly, I admire her even more now,” Allura admits. “She is a born fighter. She does not need to be taken care of. The fact that she is alive now means she has already won her battle. What better person could we have defending the universe than someone who has already won a battle?”

“It does explain what Pidge meant when she said computers were how she connected with the world,” Hunk states thoughtfully. “If she was home-schooled most of her childhood, computers were likely the only link she had to the world outside her house.”

~

Pidge and her mom quickly pick out a tunic for her to wear. Once that’s settled, Pidge goes to her lab where she finds Hunk already sitting in a chair eating a bag of Cheezy Snaks like he always does (apparently he _really_ missed Earth snacks while they were in space because he brought like a year's worth of a variety of snacks).

Pidge hesitates for a moment before heading to her workbench. She and Hunk talk about everything and nothing while listening to heavy metal music like they usually do while Pidge works and Pidge relaxes.

After a while, Pidge’s family comes in.

“Whatcha working on there, Pidge?” Matt asks her.

“It’s an upgrade to the scanners in the Paladin armor,” Pidge explains. “I’m working on an algorithm that will allow the scanners to pick up objects further away and differentiate them between hostile and non-hostile.”

“It’s a lovely upgrade,” Colleen says. “And look, you even color coded it.”

“Of course she did, Mom,” Matt tells her.

“Yeah, I mean what are we?” Sam asks as they all look at each other.

“Animals,” the four of them say at the same time before they all start laughing.

“OH MY GOD! IT’S ALL FOUR OF YOU!!” Hunk exclaims.

“This is ridiculous!"

Shiro and Keith come in then with Lance and Allura, prompting Sam and Matt to quickly leave the room with Colleen. 

"First they tell us we can’t wear our Paladin armor, now we can’t even be armed?!”

“It is a safety procedure, Keith,” Allura explains.

“Can’t we just tell them we’re security?” Keith asks.

“The party is in honor of the Paladins,” Shiro reminds him. “It won’t look good if the Paladins are providing security to their own event. Besides, security isn't supposed to be armed either.”

"What good is security if it isn't armed!?"

“What’s going on?” Hunk asks in confusion as he stands up.

“Neera has requested we leave all weapons and armor on the Atlas as a safety precaution,” Allura says.

“No one but Keith has an issue with it,” Lance adds.

“It seems like a good idea to me,” Hunk says.

“See, Hunk agrees,” Lance tells Keith.

“I’m with Keith on this one guys,” Pidge says as she walks around her workbench.

“Not you too, Pidge,” Allura groans.

“Guys, every single time we have some party or celebration in our honor, somehow someway either we’re attacked or someone ends up being kidnapped.”

“THANK YOU, PIDGE!” Keith exclaims. “That’s exactly what I said!”

Shiro puts a hand on Keith’s shoulder.

“Look, I understand your concerns, guys. But…please, no weapons, ok? We really want to convince Neera to join the Coalition for the supplies they can offer and that won't happen if we have weapons when they told us not to."

"It’s not like they can smuggle their armor or weapons under their clothes or something,” Lance states casually.

As the others leave to get ready, Pidge thinks for a moment before grabbing a bag off of her work bench and heading to her quarters to change.

~

When Pidge steps out of her quarters, she’s wearing a long sleeved black top under a dark green tunic skirt and on her feet are what look like black boots. She has a pale green drape around her body, her medical necklace around her neck, Paladin bracelet on her wrist, and in her hair is a green headband. Nestled just under her medical necklace on her chest is a green V pin.

All five of her friends’ mouths drop, even though they’re all basically wearing similar clothing to her in their Paladin color.

“Wow Pidge. You look great!” Keith compliments.

Everyone else nods in agreement.

“Thank you boys and Allura,” Pidge says.

Pidge starts to leave when Shiro stops her.

“Your bracelet has to stay here, Pidge,” Shiro tells her.

“It’s medically necessary,” she tries.

Shiro raises an amused eyebrow at her.

“And has the ability to summon your bayard and you have your necklace on,” Shiro tells her. “I made the others leave theirs here.”

Pidge sighs in defeat.

“Fine,” she says as she walks back inside her quarters while fidgeting with her bracelet.

They see her move to throw something onto her bed before stepping out the door of her quarters once more. 

“Happy now!” she pouts with her arms folded across her chest.

When the others turn their backs and head for the lift, she and Keith make eye contact.

Keith gives her a smirk and moves his red drape covered side to show her the hilt of his Blade of Marmora knife handle sticking out.

Pidge stifles a laugh as Keith holds his elbow out to her, which she takes with a smirk of her own.

~

They get to the party and for the most part everything is fine.

It’s in a large, beautifully decorated two story ballroom with ridiculously high ceilings, balconies around the center of the room overlooking the dance floor, and pillars scattered throughout the dance floor, 7 of which are supporting the weight of a stone mandala over the center of the ballroom that allows the light of the three moons in just a little. 

It’s a beautiful night with the light of Rada’s moons filling the night with a soft blue and pink light.

The party isn’t bad either.

Keith has a lot of people, particularly Garrison crewmen talking to him and complimenting him. He’s controlling himself well, but Pidge swears he looks like he's struggling not to bite or stab people. Pidge has been talking engineering with a few people, Hunk is enjoying the food when he isn’t beside her talking engineering too, Lance is meeting people, and Shiro and Allura are schmoozing the hosts.

Then the music starts and a slow song plays. Several couples move out onto the dance floor.

Including Lance and Allura.

They continue to dance, even after the slow song ends and becomes a faster one. 

Pidge’s heart aches as she stands near the buffet tables watches them dance. She’s so lost in her own feelings she only half-notices when her mom joins her.

“Well, this is certainly a nice party,” Colleen remarks. “It’s just nice to not have to fight for once.”

Pidge nods absentmindedly, too distracted to catch on to her mom’s intentions.

“The planet is so beautiful too. Apparently it typically rains all the time here.”

Pidge nods in agreement, 

“I met one of their herbalists tonight. Showed me a few of their medicinal plants. Showed me how to care for them and everything.”

Pidge grunts.

“Listen. I’ve been thinking. Maybe it's time to find someone else to fly the Green Lion.”

That gets Pidge’s attention.

“Wait, what?”

“Well, if someone else flew the Green Lion, you wouldn’t have to be on the battlefield anymore.”

“Mom, that’s not how the Lions work! The Lions choose their Paladins, not the other way around!”

“Well, can’t the Lion choose someone else? I mean, the Black Lion chose Keith after choosing Shiro, didn’t it?”

“That’s different.”

“I fail to see the difference. If the Black Lion can pick another Paladin then the Green Lion can too!”

“Mom, the Green Lion chose ME!”

“The Green Lion chose wrong!”

Pidge looks at her mom like she’s been slapped. 

Without another word, Pidge runs away, willing her tears away. As she runs, she’s comforted when she feels Green purr in her mind to assure Pidge she didn’t choose wrong and promises that any attempts to replace Pidge against Pidge’s will would be met with rejection.

That’s how Pidge ends up on a balcony overlooking the ballroom. She’s leaning against the railing watching Lance and Allura dance when someone comes up next to her.

She doesn’t need to look to know it's Keith.

For a while, neither of them speak as they awkwardly stand next to each other.

“So…” Keith begins awkwardly. “I’m not very good at this… leader pep talk stuff… but…you seem to need…”

“I have a crush on Lance!” Pidge blurts out to him.

“…”

Neither of them say anything for a tic.

“Wow, really? You like Lance?” Keith asks genuinely. “I mean, I kinda guessed, but still...”

Pidge nods.

“OK, so what’s the problem?”

“The problem is he’s in love with Allura!” Pidge states, gesturing to the dancefloor. “And I’m happy for him, I really am! I’m glad she makes him happy! It’s just…”

“You wish you could be the one to make him happy…” Keith fills in.

Pidge looks up at him.

“Guessing you know what that’s like.”

“Shiro was engaged and an adult when I fell in love with him,” Keith tells her. “Looking back it’s obvious, but at the time I didn’t realize I was in love with him considering I didn’t really grow up with anyone who loved me, or even family for that matter.”

“I want to say you’re lucky... but I know that’s not necessarily true,” Pidge admits glumly while looking back at the ballroom.

There’s no judgement in Keith’s eyes when he looks at her.

“I understand.”

Pidge sighs and looks down at her hands resting on the banister.

“I know she’s worried about me…And I know it comes from a place of love, but I wish she’d see the real me; not the me that almost died growing up, but the me that fought and survived and is now putting that energy toward saving the universe.”

Keith thinks for a moment before speaking.

“You know what I’ve always admired about you, Pidge? Believe it or not, it’s not your intelligence or cleverness or proficiency with computers. It’s your tenacity that I always admired.”

Pidge looks up at Keith as he explains.

“You were so determined to find your father and brother that you were willing to do anything it took, even if it meant running away from home and apparently committing several felonies to do it.”

“Yeah, and I got punished for it,” Pidge says.

“But was it worth it?” Keith asks her. “Look at everything you’ve accomplished because you took that one risk; because you broke those rules. You became the Green Paladin, you’ve met engineers and scientists from all over the universe, you’ve saved countless lives, hacked even more computers. Yet even in the midst of all of that, you never gave up fighting, never gave up looking for them. You not only fought for it, you succeeded which is amazing considering they were two people in an entire universe of people. That’s who you are Pidge. Someone who fights and perseveres, no matter the odds. Sometimes you **have** to take a risk or break a rule, even if you have to defy someone you love and stand alone to do it. Because sometimes the alternative if you **_don’t_ ** is far worse than any consequence you could face.”

Keith’s eyes land on Shiro across the room talking with Neera.

“I had to learn that one for myself.”

Pidge follows his gaze.

“You’re talking about when you were expelled, aren’t you?” Pidge guesses. “What happened with that anyway?”

There’s a bitter tone in Keith’s voice as he speaks while looking out over the dance floor.

“You weren’t the only one who didn’t buy the whole “pilot error” crap they tried to feed us when the Kerberos crew disappeared. I didn’t either. Loudly. They must have realized I’d eventually uncover the truth, on top of never liking me anyway, so they set me up so I would get myself expelled to cover their asses.” 

Keith looks at her once more. 

“But if I had the chance to go back and do it all over again, I would. In a heartbeat. Because what I got from that made the consequence worth it.”

“You were promoted,” Pidge says.

Keith pauses a moment before speaking.

“This may come as a shock to you, Pidge, but with the exception of my Purple Heart; I seriously don’t give a flying Weblum’s ass about my title and promotion. Yeah, it’s nice and I appreciate the gesture, but I really truly **don’t care**.”

She looks up at him in surprise.

“Really? Why?”

“Because I know for a fact that while Iverson was genuine in his apology, my promotion was just Garrison high command trying to cover their asses **again** after setting up and expelling someone who is not only the Voltron leader but who also came back and nearly died saving them after all the bullshit they put me through.”

“How do you know?”

“Have you seen my uniform? I didn’t notice it until I got it home that night, but it literally looks like a cadet’s uniform with the commander bars sewn on.”

“Now that you mention it, yeah it does.”

“I have no illusions about their intent. It's a bribe. Nothing more. Sooner or later something will happen and I'll be right back where I started. I’ve read this book before. I know how this always ends...”

Keith winces suddenly before rubbing the right side of his head.

“You ok?” Pidge asks in concern.

“Yeah, just a headache…” 

“So what _were_ you referring to then?” Pidge asks.

Keith gives Pidge a half-smile.

“I was talking about you guys. You guys were my friends before I was promoted and you’ll probably continue to be my friends after my inevitable fall from grace, so to speak. If I hadn’t gotten expelled I never would have met you guys and if you had never done what you did, you wouldn’t have found your family. You and I aren't all that different. You’re a lot stronger than Dr. Holt gives you credit for and it’s high time she realized it.”

Pidge hugs Keith then.

“Thank you!” she tells him.

Keith smiles and hugs her back.

“Anytime…” Keith tells her. “As for your crush on Lance, just give it time. You'll be okay.”

Suddenly, there's a loud crash as something big comes hurtling through the roof and hits the ballroom floor; knocking out the lights and creating a small crater in the middle of the ballroom floor. The only lights are the emergency lights and moonlight shining through the hole in the roof. 

Everyone except Allura, Lance, Hunk, and Shiro screams and moves away from it.

Pidge and Keith share a ‘called it’ look before Keith leaps over the banister while Pidge remains where she is.

When the alien stands, it looks like the weirdest jumble of creatures Pidge has ever seen. It looks like a centaur but instead of a horse body with a human torso, it has a scorpion body (complete with six legs, pincers, and what looks like two stingers on its tail end) with a humanoid torso with two arms, and a bald head with a four eyes and a mandible.

The monster makes a clicking sound as it speaks.

“The Empress sends her regards!”

“Atlas crew, evacuate all civilians and non-combatants! Atlas non-combatants, evacuate to the ship immediately!” Shiro commands.

“Yes sir!”

As the civilians start to be evacuated, the monster lets out a tremendous shriek before going straight for Shiro. 

Keith immediately awakens his Blade and steps in front of him.

“What did I tell you!?” Keith grunts over his shoulder while using his Blade to hold back its pincers. “Every. Single. Time!”

“Save the ‘I told you so’ for later, Keith!” Shiro yells back.

Keith throws the alien off before he turns toward the balcony and yells.

“Pidge!”

“On it!”

He turns to the other three Paladins.

“Allura, go help the Atlas crew evacuate civilians!”

“Understood!”

“Lance, Hunk! Help Shiro keep everyone who hasn’t been evacuated yet off the ballroom dance floor. Since Pidge and I are the only ones with enough disregard for authority to smuggle in weapons, we’ll have to fight this thing!”

“What makes you think Pidge smuggled in a weapon?” Lance asks with a raised eyebrow.

Before Keith can answer, they all turn when they hear the sound of Pidge firing her bayard’s grapple at the ceiling. When she lowers herself to the ground floor and retracts her grapple, they can see her wristband is still on her wrist.

“Like minds,” Keith says as he looks back at them.

The alien shrieks again, getting everyone’s attention.

“You’re mine!”

“Go!” he yells before running to meet it in the middle.

As Pidge runs toward Keith to help, her mom comes out of nowhere and catches her wrist.

“Absolutely not, young lady!”

“But Mom!”

“No buts!” Colleen says as she starts to drag her toward the crowd of Atlas non-combatants evacuating.

“Dr. Holt, Pidge is the only other person with a weapon right now,” Shiro tells her firmly. “We need her! If she doesn’t fight, Keith will have to fight by himself!”

“Not my concern!” Colleen tells him as she drags Pidge off the battlefield. “My only concern is protecting my 16 year old daughter.”

A cold feeling settles in Shiro’s chest.

Because of his command, Keith now has to fight this fight alone with only a flimsy tunic and a single blade for protection.

Pidge is fighting her mom’s hold on her as she’s dragged away from the fight.

She can still see Keith fighting and while Keith’s doing well, Pidge could also tell he needs help.

“Mom, lemme go! Please! Keith needs my help!”

“Absolutely not! It’s too dangerous!”

“Mom, why can’t you understand?!” Pidge cries.

“Pidge, stop this at once! You’re being selfish.”

Keith grunts as he hits the ground after getting thrown across the ballroom. He moves to attack but is immediately grabbed. He cries out in pain as he gets slammed into the ground. It then holds him down with its pincers and sinks it’s stingers into Keith’s shoulders. Immediately, it starts to drain Keith's quintessence.

“NO!” Shiro cries.

“There’s gotta be something we can do to help him!” Hunk says.

“There’s plenty of stuff we can throw,” Lance suggests.

The three of them immediately start throwing everything they can, drawing its attention so Keith can break free.

Pidge whirls around to face her mom and snaps.

“HAVE YOU LOOKED IN A MIRROR LATELY!? I’m risking my life in a war so save countless others! You’re putting the entire universe in danger because you want to save one at the cost of the whole universe! If anyone’s being selfish, it’s you!”

“Don’t you talk to me like that, young lady!” Colleen tells her. “I’m your mother, Katie and I know what’s best for you!”

Pidge squares her shoulders and levels a firm look at her mother as she sees Krolia step up behind her.

“And I am a Paladin of Voltron!” Pidge tells her firmly. “I’m part of a team and right now, one of them is in trouble and I’m the only one who can help him! I’m not looking for your approval and I’m well beyond asking your permission! Ground me, take away my computer, I don’t care anymore. My friend will die if I don’t help him! The universe will die if we don’t have the Paladins…”

At that moment, Keith gets disarmed and pinned to the ground, drawing another cry of pain from him before hoisting him into the air.

“KEITH!”

Shiro, Lance, and Hunk all try to help Keith as it drains Keith's quintessence once more.

Lance and Hunk are immediately smacked away while Shiro manages to keep a hold on it and repeatedly hits the armored joints of its claw to get it to let go, to no avail.

“No…” Pidge whispers.

Pidge grits her teeth and makes a decision.

“Mom, I’m sorry!”

Pidge calls her bayard to her hand and gives her mom enough of a shock so that she’ll let go of Pidge but not enough to hurt her. As soon as Colleen has let her go, Pidge runs toward the fight.

Before Colleen can catch Pidge, Krolia grabs her from behind and hauls her out of the room; fighting the whole way.

Pidge gets there and sees the thing’s stingers collecting Keith’s quintessence into a concealed containment capsule on its back. 

Cold fear grips Shiro’s heart as he tries in vain to get the monster to drop Keith. Keith’s struggles are getting weaker and weaker as more and more of his quintessence is drained away.

For the first time since he came back, he sincerely misses his old hand.

Suddenly, a metal circular platter flies across the room and cuts across the monster’s stingers.

The Scorpion shrieks in agony and drops Keith before backing away.

Shiro immediately lets go and catches Keith as he falls limply to the ground. Shiro rolls to the side with Keith. Shiro checks Keith over as Lance and Hunk reaches them and breathes a sigh of relief when Keith groans.

Keith grins weakly as he loses consciousness.

“That monster's screwed now…”

“HEY!”

They look to see Pidge walking across the ballroom. It’s clear from the look on her face that she’s livid.

“Leave. My Boys. Alone!”

With one hand she removes her glasses and wrap and throws them to the side as she hits the V shaped pin on her chest with her other hand. She then pulls off her tunic skirt as the pin immediately grows bigger, revealing a skin tight black bodysuit underneath.

“Her under armor!” Lance exclaims. “She snuck in her under armor!”

Metallic nanomachines extend from the V like vines over her body before solidifying into what looks like a completely colorless version of their Paladin armor, except the underside of the breastplate is curved upward instead of down.

“The new armor she told us she was developing!” Hunk exclaims with stars in his eyes. “That must be the prototype.”

“No kidding!” Lance breathes in awe. “It looks great.”

Pidge comes to a stop near one of the pillars. You'd never guess she wasn't wearing her Paladin armor the whole time.

The monster shrieks and attacks her, but she quickly dodges it; causing it to take out the pillar.

~

Colleen sits against the wall inside the Atlas with her knees up and her arms wrapped around them.

After several minutes of Colleen struggling and fighting Krolia’s hold on her to get to Pidge, she eventually gave in as the stronger woman dragged her into engineering where Kolivan, Sam, and Matt were already waiting.

Krolia comes up beside her.

“Mind if I sit here?”

Colleen shrugs.

“Come to tell me I’m being unreasonable for not wanting my only daughter to be killed in a war?” Colleen asks bitterly.

“No, I came because I know you're worried and thought you might like company,” Krolia says honestly as she sits beside her.

They sit in silence for several minutes before Colleen turns to the other woman.

“Am I wrong for wanting to keep my daughter safe?” 

“Do you want the truth or do you want what you wish to hear?”

Colleen raises her eyebrow at her.

“Do I have a choice?”

“Not really, but I can go get someone more willing to _._ ”

Colleen snorts in spite of herself before sighing.

“Alright, let’s have it.”

“Firstly, I do not believe you're wrong to worry about your child’s health and safety,” Krolia tells her. “You are, after all, her mother. That being said, I do think you're being unreasonable in how you handle that worry. My son tells me Pidge nearly died as a child.”

Colleen sighs.

“So many times, I lost count.”

Colleen looks at Krolia.

“I wasn’t aware your son knew about that. Or that he told you.”

“My son only learned of it earlier today and he tells me many things.”

There’s the smallest smile on Krolia’s face when she says this before continuing.

“Given that, I can understand why you feel the need to protect her as you do, unnecessary though it may be.”

“Unnecessary?! Did you not see the explosion! The way they fell from the sky?! They could have died!”

Krolia doesn’t flinch, but her answer is blunt.

“I did not actually, but I know my son wasn't breathing when they found him."

Colleen flinches.

"I know the cost of this war better than anyone; it not only nearly cost me my son but it cost me my own daughter as well. However if this war is not ended soon, many more will die including your daughter.”

Colleen stares at her.

“You have a daughter?”

Now it's Krolia’s turn to sigh.

“Somewhere in the crumbling empire, yes. The Empire did not have family units, its children were raised in groups with others their age until they were old enough to be set in the military. She was taken from me the day she was born. I have been looking for her for countless deca-phoebs without much success. To be honest, I do not even know her name or what she looks like. She could be standing right next to me and I wouldn't even know it.”

“I’m sorry,” Colleen tells her sincerely.

“I know you worry, but your daughter is trying to… what is that Earth phrase… spread her roots?”

Colleen smiles.

“You know, the phrase is actually “spread her wings”, but I like your version better. Maybe that’s the botanist in me speaking...”

“You have been so busy trying to protect her, you did not realize she doesn't need it anymore. You just told me you are a botanist, yes?”

Colleen nods.

“I have doctorates in botany and biological sciences,” she tells her, not sure where Krolia’s going with this but willing to play along.

“When you put a young plant in the ground, are you not supposed to make the hole wider than the roots?” Krolia asks her.

“That’s right.”

“And what happens when you don’t?” Krolia asks.

“The tree will survive but the roots… won’t grow in properly enough for it to sustain itself…” Colleen trails off.

She sighs before admitting.

“I see your point.”

“I'm not saying you are not allowed to worry for your daughter. You are her mother, you have that right. I'm telling you that you cannot let that worry stop her from living her life. She is much stronger than you act like she is.”

Colleen gives Krolia a gentle smile.

“Thank you, Krolia.”

“I am told it is what friends do.”

“How do you know so much about planting?” Colleen asks out of curiosity.

“Akira, Keith’s father, farmed when he was not a firefighter. He taught me much.”

Across the room, Sam, Matt, and Kolivan heard the whole conversation.

Sam leans against the Galra Commander.

“Kolivan, explain this phenomenon to me. I’ve been telling my wife almost the exact same thing for YEARS with no success. Krolia comes in, literally drags her kicking and screaming from our daughter, says the same thing, and suddenly my wife listens?”

“Sometimes it takes another to point out the flaws in your ideology,” Kolivan says, “Even after those closest to you have already pointed it out.”

Matt grins.

“In other words, Dad. She thought it was stupid until she heard it from somebody else.”

“Thanks, Matt…”

~

Pidge uses her jetpack to weave and dodge while using her bayard to fight. During their fight, two more pillars get destroyed.

Pidge’s grapple line gets grabbed and she’s thrown across the room. Her bayard starts to glow white and change right before she takes out a fourth pillar.

“PIDGE!”

Hunk, Lance, and Shiro are forced to turn their attention away from the cloud of dust as the monster advances on them once more.

As Hunk and Lance stand and grab something to fight with, Shiro quickly looks down at Keith still lying unconscious in his arms. Silently, he pulls Keith's body closer to protect it with his own.

The monster shrieks as it leaps at them.

Suddenly, two green grapple lines wrap themselves around The Scorpion’s tails, stopping it just shy of them before shocking the heck out of the alien.

The guys and the monster look back at the dust cloud as it dissipates.

As the dust clears, they see Pidge standing with a pair of Green Lion shaped gauntlets on her hands that cover her forearms, armor on her lower legs and feet that are shaped like the paws of her Lion, and what looks like a shield like the one her Lion has on her back. The twin grapple lines are connected to the mouths of her gauntlets that she has pulled tight and there are anchors holding onto the ground from her leg armor, holding her in place.

Since she can’t be pulled off her feet anymore, the monster charges at Pidge instead.

Pidge quickly retracts her grapple and anchors before using her jet-pack to dodge to her left.

She hovers above the ground and aims the mouths of her gauntlets before firing a barrage of shots, injuring it. It jumps at her in a rage and takes out another pillar when Pidge dodges again. When Pidge lands, she unleashes another barrage of shots from her gauntlets.

“Am I the only one who thinks her upgrade makes her look like a mini green and black Voltron?” Hunk points out.

“Now that you mention it, she kinda does,” Shiro agrees. “Her leg armor looks like paws and she has the shield instead of wings, but yeah I see it.”

“Hey wait! How come Pidge gets armor with her upgrade while the rest of us just get weapons?” Lance asks. “I’m not complaining, but still…”

“The Lioness…” Keith tells them with a grunt as he finally comes to.

“The what?” Shiro asks as he helps Keith sit up.

“Male lions… use their claws primarily to attack…” Keith explains tiredly. “The female lion’s claws… aren’t just for attacking… they use them to defend as well… Green is female. The rest of the Lions are male.”

“Blue isn’t. Blue’s female too,” Lance tells him.

“Allura still hasn’t gotten her upgrade yet,” Hunk points out. “Maybe hers will have armor.”

They look back at the fight as another pillar comes crashing down.

Using the dust from the falling pillar as cover, it jumps up, grabbing Pidge tightly in its pincers, and landing on the ground.

Pidge cries out and her gauntlets turn back into her bayard as she struggles to get free.

“You are a fool to think you could defeat me on your own,” it sneers. “Any last words?”

Pidge gives it a smug look.

“How many pillars do you count?”

The four guys blink before they all turn to look at the columns left.

The guys’ eyes widen and their jaws drop when they notice all the pillars that were taken out are six of the seven pillars holding up the mandala. Only the pillar in the center remains.

While it's distracted looking at the other pillars, Pidge turns her bayard into a single gauntlet once more and fires several shots at the last pillar, destroying it.

Shiro pulls Keith back until they, Hunk, and Lance are under the second level where they all watch as the mandala comes crashing down in pieces.

It drops Pidge as it's immediately crushed by debris. 

Pidge uses her jetpack to try to escape the falling roof. After several near misses, Pidge realizes she’s not going to make it in time. She lands and activates her complete bayard upgrade before dropping to her knees, covering her head with her gauntlets as pieces of the roof come down around her.

Shiro instinctively covers Keith while Lance and Hunk cover themselves as the collapsing mandala kicks up a cloud of dust and debris. They hear the sound of something really big coming in through the hole in the roof and breathe a collective sigh of relief when the dust settles and they see the Green Lion.

Pidge uncurls herself, removing her hands from her head and looks up at her Lion standing over her.

“Thanks girl,” Pidge tells her, deactivating her upgrade again.

“PIDGE!”

Pidge looks over in time to see Shiro drop to his knees and give her the fiercest bear hug she’s ever had in her life.

“Thank you so much for not listening to me!!” Shiro tells her, Keith, Lance, and Hunk joining them.

Pidge laughs and hugs him back.

Allura runs in with Krolia, the Holts, and the entire Atlas crew; drawn in by the Green Lion’s sudden appearance.

Several Garrison members start gasping and pointing at Keith then.

Keith is leaning tiredly on Hunk as he asks.

“Why is everyone staring at me?”

Pidge looks up at him and makes a face sparking Shiro, Lance, and Hunk to look at Keith and also make a face.

“Keith, you might want to look at your reflection,” Pidge says as Lance reaches into his pocket and pulls out a pocket mirror.

He holds it up to Keith’s face and Keith sees he looks just like his mother with black hair. They couldn’t see it before because it was so dark but now that he’s in the light of the moons, it's plain as day.

"Apparently getting your quintessence drained brings out your Galra traits," Pidge explains.

Keith just calmly raises an eyebrow at it.

“Yup, that explains it…” in a tone that Pidge reads as ‘this might as well happen’.

~

Later that night as the Atlas crew is tending the wounded and Shiro and Allura are finalizing the alliance with Neera, Pidge walks over to where Keith is sitting while Krolia treats his wounds.

By now, he looks like himself again, but being near his mother makes him feel safer after being completely outed to the entire Atlas crew that he’s part Galra. Until now, the only Garrison members of the crew who knew were the Bridge crew, Holt family, and MFE pilots.

"Nice work tonight, Pidge," Keith tells her.

"Thanks," Pidge tells him.

"Now you just need to talk to your mom," Keith suggests before pointing. "She's coming this way right now."

Pidge tenses.

“Erm…”

“Come on, Pidge. You just defeated a whole bad guy by yourself after it thoroughly kicked my ass. Standing up to your mom should be a piece of cake.”

Pidge takes a deep breath.

“Ok, I’ve got this. Wish me luck!”

Pidge approaches her mom.

“I’m… sorry I zapped you with my bayard…”

Colleen sighs.

“In your defense, I didn’t really give you a choice, did I?”

She takes Pidge’s hands in her own.

“I’m sorry I was being unreasonable.”

Pidge gives her mom’s hands a squeeze.

“I know you were trying to protect me Mom, but I don’t need it anymore.”

Pidge turns to the Green Lion before continuing.

“And when I do, I have Green to back me up.”

“I’m also sorry for saying you shouldn’t be a Paladin,” Colleen tells her. “And for calling you selfish. You aren’t. What you’re doing is very brave and selfless. It’s just hard to see you walk into battle knowing you might not come home.”

“See, that’s your whole problem, Mom,” Pidge tells her. “If you knew me, the real me, you wouldn’t have worried so much. Because you’d know I’d pull through like I always have. Besides, Dad always says “if you spend all your time worrying about things that might go wrong…”

“You might miss the chance to do something great”,” Colleen finishes with a smile. “I’m sorry for letting my worry keep you from being great.”

Pidge and her mom hug then.

“I’m going back to the Atlas,” Colleen tells Pidge.

Colleen pats the Green Lion’s paw.

“Take care of her girl. We both know she doesn’t need it but still…”

Green lowers her head and opens her mouth for Colleen.

“She wants to escort you back to the Atlas,” Pidge translates.

"Well, who am I to refuse then?” Colleen remarks as she walks up Green's mouth.

“See you back at the ship, Mom,” Pidge says as they take off and head for the Atlas before heading over to talk to Matt.

“Alright, I am finished,” Krolia tells Keith, closing the first aid kit as Shiro walks up to them. “I need to meet with Kolivan to discuss something. Will you be alright?”

“I’ll be fine, Mom,” Keith assures her.

Krolia puts her hand on Shiro’s shoulder as she leaves.

As soon as Krolia’s out of earshot, Shiro immediately drops to his knees and wraps his arms around Keith's waist; burying his face in Keith’s stomach while being mindful of his injuries.

“Shiro?”

“I’m sorry I didn’t heed your warnings better,” Shiro tells him earnestly. “You were right… I _knew_ you were right... but I was so focused on getting the alliance that I put you all in jeopardy to do it.”

“I wish you had been right,” Keith admits.

He looks down at the older man, carding his fingers through Shiro's white hair.

When the other man doesn’t look up, Keith continues.

“Why don’t we just leave it at this?”

Keith guides Shiro’s chin to look up at him before caressing Shiro's cheek with his thumb.

“I told you so.”

Shiro laughs and looks adoringly into Keith’s eyes as he leans into the touch.

Their heads start to drift closer again, but before their lips touch, Keith winces and pulls away to rub his head with a grunt.

"That's getting old really fast..." Keith complains.

“You ok?” Shiro asks with concern.

“Yeah, just a headache…”

“You did take a beating today,” Shiro says as he rubs the side of Keith’s head with his hand.

Keith sighs.

“I think I’m going to head back to my quarters,” Keith tells him. "I've had enough excitement for one day..."

“Alright. I’ll help you."

“Thanks.”

Keith smiles up at the older man while leaning on him for support. 

As they walk back to the Atlas and toward the lift, Keith can hear people whispering behind their hands and pointing at him as he walks by.

Disappointed, but not surprised, Keith frowns as he looks straight ahead once more, knowing full well the turn that’s about to play out.

~

While the Atlas crew are distracted tending to the Avians, a wormhole opens in the now deserted ballroom and an Altean robeast comes through. It flies down into the hole in the roof to the rubble on top of the squashed creature. 

It quickly uncovers the alien just enough to retrieve the still intact canister of quintessence and bring it back through the wormhole.


	6. Return of the Prince

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While traveling over Arus, Lotor returns with a new pet, but something's off about him. When Lotor kidnaps Keith and Allura, the remaining Paladins go looking for him. Meanwhile, Shiro is having a hard time accepting his new role on the sidelines.

Shiro is at his post on the bridge with the Paladins around him in full Paladin armor (minus their helmets) when they pass through a sector near a planet that looks similar to Earth.

Pidge gasps.

“I recognize these constellations! And that planet!”

She turns to the others excitedly.

“You guys know where we are, right?!”

When the others all give her the deer-in-the-headlights look, she points to the planet.

“That’s _Arus_! That’s where we met Allura and Coran for the first time!”

The others gasp and look again.

“Holy Crow, you’re right Pidge!” Lance exclaims.

“It does not seem like it was that long ago, does it?” Allura asks.

“Feels like a lifetime ago for me,” Shiro remarks dryly.

“Hard to believe so much has happened since we started,” Keith remarks, absentmindedly petting Kosmo as he talks.

Suddenly, the alarm goes off.

“Sir, the sensors are detecting a ship breech!” Veronica tells him.

“Where?” Shiro asks.

“I’m not sure,” Veronica says. “We’re picking up a biorhythm but it’s intermittent throughout the ship, almost random. It doesn’t make sense.”

Keith breathes in sharply through his nose and turns white as a sheet.

“That... kinda sounds like the creature/weapon/thing...” Lance points out anxiously as they all look at Keith.

“The what?” Shiro asks in confusion.

“No… no, that can’t be… we destroyed it, didn’t we?” Keith asks, catching Shiro’s attention.

“I mean, theoretically it _is_ possible the thing could have teleported onto one of the other ships to escape the explosion,” Pidge states.

“Not helping Pidge,” Lance whispers.

“It is far more than theoretical,” they hear a familiar voice say.

A flash of light appears at the front of the bridge. They stare in shock as Lotor appears with the creature they thought they destroyed standing behind him, only it’s somehow smaller.

“I would hazard to say it is a fact.”

“Lotor?!” Allura says fearfully.

He looks exactly as he did before he went mad, except his eyes are glowing purple.

The reaction from the Paladins is instantaneous.

Pidge and Lance immediately step protectively in front of Allura with Hunk close behind, all with their bayards out. 

However it's Keith’s reaction that puts Shiro on edge.

Keith reaches for his Luxite blade and backs into Shiro’s post as Kosmo growls low in his throat and plants himself in front of Keith. The others are all looking at Lotor, but Kosmo and Keith are staring at the creature.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” Lance asks.

“And why isn’t that thing attacking you?” Pidge asks.

“Yeah, I thought it was trained to kill anyone with Galra blood?” Hunk asks.

Shiro gasps and looks back at Keith as suddenly Keith’s reaction makes sense. Then he realizes something else.

Other than Lotor, Keith’s the only other person on the bridge at that moment with Galra blood.

Lotor tisks.

“Now really, you think my mother would give her beloved son a pet that would kill him?” Lotor pets it as he continues. “My mother has done what the Galra could not. She tamed the creature. I call it Ontar.”

Allura stares at Lotor in confusion.

“Lotor, you hate Honerva,” she asks. “Why would you side with her?”

“I could never hate the woman who gave me life! I love her dearly!” Lotor tells her back. “As for what I am doing here, well… Mother sent me on an errand to collect someone.”

Keith looks at Allura standing next to him as Lotor snaps his fingers and the beast "Ontar" jumps clear up in the air and disappears.

“Where’d it go?!” Pidge and Lance ask as they look frantically.

Keith suddenly feels the air ripple just in front of him and Allura and instinctively shoves Allura out of the way just as the creature reappears from that spot.

It lands directly on top of him; pinning him to the ground.

“KEITH!”

Keith has his bayard in his hand as he struggles to keep the beast’s teeth from biting his head off. His options are limited.

His Marmora Blade is pinned underneath him and Keith knows the sword on his bayard won’t do anything to this thing. The only weapon that did any damage was his railgun, but if he fired that here, he’d put a hole in the Atlas’ bridge.

“No!” Allura shouts.

Allura wraps her whip around Ontar’s neck to pull it off Keith as Kosmo bites down on the creature’s forelimb right before it teleports, stopping quickly to pick up Lotor before vanishing.

“KEITH! ALLURA!”

Shiro recovers quickly.

“Find their signature immediately!”

“Already found them,” Coran states. “It appears they’re on Arus.”

“Then we’d better get down there too,” Shiro says.

Shiro looks up at the planet.

‘Hang on, Keith…’

~

Down on Arus, the five of them reappear in the middle of a dense forest with Keith still pinned beneath Ontar. Part of Keith’s jetpack starts to spark from the weight. Kosmo backs off as Allura approaches them, grabs Ontar, and physically pulls it off Keith and over her head.

“Your master wishes to speak with you!”

Allura throws it at Lotor before grabbing Keith’s hand. Kosmo teleports them away and they reappear on a cliff with a waterfall overlooking a river.

“Allura! We’re going to have to jump off the cliff into the river!” Keith tells her. “It’s the only way that thing won’t be able to track me.”

“Alright, on three,” Allura says as she picks up Kosmo. “One…”

Suddenly Ontar appears at the other end of the cliff.

“Three!” Keith says, jumping clear off the cliff pulling Allura with him.

Allura uses her jetpack to slow their descent, but Keith’s malfunctions. A few tics later, they land in the river below.

Ontar stops at the edge of the cliff, unable to track Keith in the water.

“Worry not, Ontar,” Lotor soothes his pet. “Just a minor set back.”

~

On the Atlas, the remaining Paladins are preparing to leave in their Lions with the MFEs.

Shiro moves to join them, but he’s stopped by Coran and Sam.

“Afraid you have to stay here, Shiro,” Coran tells him.

“What?! Why?!”

“You’re the only one who can transform the Atlas, Shiro,” Sam tells him, sympathetically.

“But… Keith and Allura…”

“Commander Holt and Coran are right, Shiro,” Hunk tells him gently.

“Lotor could pull something that we’ll need support from the Atlas for,” Lance tells him.

“Also, until I finish everyone’s new Paladin armor; the Atlas has a better scanner range then we do,” Pidge tells him. “We need you here, Shiro.”

Shiro sighs in defeat. They’re right, of course and Shiro knows it.

“Ok…”

He feels a hand on his shoulder and looks up.

“We’ll find Keith, Shiro…” Hunk assures.

Coran heads up to the bridge while Shiro stands with Commander Holt as they watch the Red, Green, and Yellow Lions leave.

As he leaves he stops by the door, remembering something his clone had told Keith once.

 _“We all have a part to play in ending this war…This is mine now…I’ve come to terms with it…now you need to…”_

Shiro growls in frustration as he punches the wall with his prosthetic.

He knows this is his role now. He knows. But it sucks. His clone may have accepted sitting on the sidelines easily, but Shiro isn’t.

He feels a hand on his shoulder and turns to see Commander Holt standing beside him.

“I know this must be hard for you, Shiro,” Commander Holt tells him understandingly. “But the best we can do for Keith right now is give them an idea of where to look.”

Shiro sighs in defeat as he moves to follow Commander Holt.

Shiro stops and looks longingly at the Blue and Black Lions still in the hanger before heading up to the bridge.

~

Keith and Allura manage to swim to shore about a mile and a half from where they jumped.

“Are you alright?” Allura asks breathlessly as she helps Keith up while Kosmo shakes out his fur.

“Yeah,” Keith tells her. “How about you?”

“I will be better once we get out of here,” Allura tells him, hugging herself.

They look up to get their bearings and find themselves deep in a thick forest.

"It looks like we're on the other side of Arus from where the Castle was," Keith observes.

“I wish we had our helmets...” Allura says. “We could tell the others where we are.”

“We’d better get moving,” Keith tells her. “It’s only a matter of time before that thing picks up my trail.”

They both try their jetpacks but Keith’s just sparks and refuses to function.

“Looks like I’m walking,” Keith points out.

“I will walk with you.”

As they start walking, Keith uses his knife to cut down a small tree branch with leaves and drags it behind them to cover their tracks.

“That's clever!”

“Just something my Pop taught me.”

“Is that how you know so much about surviving in places such as this?”

“Yep! Me and my Pop used to go hiking and camping out in the desert a lot when he was alive,” Keith tells her. “He’d teach me stuff like how to track things, how to navigate using the stars, how to hunt and fish, how to navigate through caves, and what to do when things catch fire. He was a firefighter so he knew a lot about stuff like that. He’d take me hiking every weekend he had off if weather permitted and would point out rock formations around us. One time there was a carnival that came to town. My Pop took me on _so_ many rides! I fell asleep in the car on the way home and woke up in my room the next morning.”

Allura smiles.

“I have fond memories of my father as well,” Allura tells him. “There were these flowers on Altea called Juniberries. When I was small he would let me put them in his hair and beard and I would make chains out of them. He taught me how to be diplomatic, how to rule with compassion and fairness, and to never ask of others what I am unwilling to do myself. He always said that it is I who serve my people, not the other way around.”

Allura’s smile falls.

“Now my people are being used for Honerva’s own gain, and they do not even know it.”

“All the more reason for you to overthrow her.”

“And now Lotor is with her,” Allura tells him.

“You said earlier that Lotor hated his mother?” Keith asks.

“Lotor hated **Haggar** ,” Allura corrects him. “Even after she became Honerva again, he would not accept her as his mother. She was still Haggar as far as he was concerned.”

“It’s messed up, but you think Honerva brainwashed Lotor into loving her?”

“It is possible and it sounds like something she would do,” Allura admits sadly. “I know he used my people… and I know he used me to build his comet ships… but I feel sorry for him. He grew up the child of Zarkon and Honerva, a half breed, in the Galra Empire. When Honerva became Haggar, she was all but dead to him so he only had his father and, apparently a governess, to raise him.”

Allura looks at Keith.

“I want to believe he had good intentions. I do not believe he was lying when he told me how he governed a colony by befriending them and how Zarkon killed them while he watched. I wish there had been a way to help him.”

Keith looks back at Allura.

“That’s what I admire about you, Allura,” he tells her. “You’re always willing to see the good in people, despite everything you’ve lost. You have every right to be angry at the universe but you aren’t.”

“You give me too much credit, Keith,” Allura tells him honestly. “It is **you** who taught me how to see the good in _everyone_ , no matter what they may or may not have done. When I awoke, I was determined to hate **all** Galra, simply for being Galra because of what happened to me and my people. Everything was black and white for me. As far as I was concerned, they were all guilty of what happened to us and the universe.”

Her face falls.

“And as a result, I treated you terribly when we learned you were part Galra. You had not even known before that moment and I still treated you with disdain. Yet, you still forgave me for how I acted. It is easy to see the good in others when they are nice to you. It is far more difficult to do so when they have hurt you.”

“I don’t blame you at all for any of that,” Keith tells her with an understanding smile. “I know what it’s like to lose everything and be left with nothing but your name and maybe a few personal items.”

Keith’s face falls, looking at his feet as he walks.

“To go to sleep one night and wake up to find the only person who understood and loved you was gone. To have everything you ever cared about taken away in an instant and suddenly find yourself alone with nothing and becoming angry at the world because of it.”

Allura looks at him sadly.

“How old were you when your father died?” she asks him gently.

“Just shy of 9…”

Her eyes widened.

“That is so young…”

“Tell me about it...” Keith tells her without looking up. “If it makes you feel better, I feel bad for Lotor too. It sounds like he and I had very similar upbringings. We both went through life constantly being told we didn’t matter, that we were worthless, and the way we naturally were was wrong. There’s one big difference between us, however.” Keith smiles at her then. “He didn’t have any friends.”

Allura gives him a sweet smile.

“Not so much sympathy that I'd let him hurt you, but still,” Keith adds jokingly as he pets Kosmo.

Allura giggles.

“Indeed, my sympathy stops where it concerns my family and my people,” Allura tells him. “And that **includes** his pets who wish to kill them.”

Kosmo barks.

“See, Kosmo agrees with me!” Allura says, making Keith laughs.

~

Shiro is on the bridge anxiously monitoring the scanners from his post.

“Lance, anything new to report?” Shiro asks.

“Oh, nothing new in the **5 DOBOSHES SINCE YOU LAST ASKED**!”

Shiro winces.

“Sorry...” Shiro tells him, as the bridge crew exchanges a look of amusement.

“Go easy on him Lance,” Pidge tells him. “You have someone you’re worried about out there too after all.”

Lance sighs.

“I know…”

“Hey guys, I think I’ve got something,” Hunk says suddenly. “Here are my coordinates.”

Lance and Pidge immediately fly to Hunk’s location while Shiro has the Atlas moved into orbit over the coordinates.

“They were definitely here, Shiro,” Pidge says. “There are footprints. Looks like Kosmo teleported them here.”

“Their tracks lead to a cliff and then end, but Lotor and his new “pet's” just disappeared…” Lance points out.

“If Lotor and that thing were chasing them, it makes sense they would jump into the river below,” Shiro points out.

“Uh… guys I found something else,” Hunk says tensely as his eyes follow the river upstream.

The others follow his gaze to where the forest turns into a rocky desert with mesas and frown when they see several metallic structures built into the base of the mesas and plateaus.

“Shiro, look at this,” Hunk asks as he turns his helmet’s camera on so the Atlas can see.

“Those things look familiar,” Shiro comments, “Were they on Arus when we were here before?”

“Don’t think so,” Lance states.

“They look new,” Hunk points out. “Maybe we didn’t see them on Arus.”

“Oh no…” Pidge says with dread.

“What?”

“I know why they look familiar,” Pidge says tensely. “Remember the ant planet?”

It hits them all at once.

“Oh no…”

“You don’t mean…”

“I think I know what you’re getting at…”

“Yeah… that’s where we’ve seen those before…” Pidge tells them. “They’re Galra sentry factories.”

“Quiznak!” Shiro hisses.

“Well, just because there are factories here doesn’t mean they’re active, right?” Hunk asks. “I mean, the Empire isn’t what it used to be, right; so maybe they aren’t being used?”

“We are **never** _that_ lucky, Hunk!” Lance points out to him.

Suddenly an alarm goes off on the Atlas’ scanners.

“I have their signatures!" Shiro tells them. "Sending them to you now."

The Paladins run back to their Lions and take off to the location the signatures are coming from. They land the Lions on a bend in the river deep in the forest.

“They definitely washed ashore here,” Lance says. “It looks like they went into the forest toward the mesas."

“We’ll have to leave the Lions here and continue on foot,” Hunk says.

They follow the tracks into the forest when suddenly the tracks stop.

“Maybe they started using their jetpacks?” Lance suggests.

“I don’t think so. Most likely, Keith started covering their tracks,” Shiro tells them.

“I got it!” Pidge says before she types something in on her scanner. “Just because he covered them, doesn’t mean they aren’t still there.”

Immediately, the readout on her helmet shows a trail of hidden footprints leading deeper into the forest.

“Bingo! Let’s move!”

~

Keith and Allura come to a stop at the edge of the forest as it gradually turns into a rocky desert with plateaus and mesas.

“Not gonna lie, I _really_ don’t want to go out there,” Keith admits. "It's too exposed."

They both hear the creature teleport behind them.

“They found us!!”

With nowhere else to go, they head straight into the desert.

The other Paladins exit the forest just behind them.

“Oh quiznak!” Pidge says as she zooms in and sees that they’re running from the creature. Then Pidge sees the creature chasing them toward one of the sentry factories in the mesa ahead. When sentries start pouring out of the opening, she realizes what’s going on.

“It’s an ambush!” Hunk says, realizing the same.

“Shiro, I’m sending you coordinates!” Pidge says typing on her wrist computer. “Fire at this exact location right now!”

Shiro looks at the bridge crew when they get the coordinates.

“You heard the lady.”

Keith and Allura run through the desert mesas with Ontar hot on their heels.

“I cannot run anymore!” Allura says.

Keith spots the sentries coming at them then.

“Crap!” Keith hisses as he and Allura come to a stop.

“We are trapped!” Allura says as they pull out their bayards and prepare to fight.

Just then they see a laser beam shoot down through the clouds and hit the base of the mesa the sentries are coming from.

“Atlas!”

Shots start to ring out. They look back and see the Red, Green, and Yellow Paladins coming in behind them with their jetpacks and firing on both the creature and the wave of sentries. Another wave of sentries pours out of the other openings scattered around the canyon then.

“MFEs to our position!” Lance says into the com as Pidge and Hunk call on their bayard upgrades. “We need back up!”

“Roger that!”

Before anyone can stop it, the creature teleports out of the line of fire and onto Keith and Allura before teleporting again after Kosmo bites its tail.

“ _Now_ where’d they go?!” Hunk asks as they start fighting sentries.

“Paladins, what’s happening down there?” Shiro asks.

“That thing just teleported Keith and Allura God knows where!” Lance tells him.

“Wait! They’re on top of one of the mesas!” Pidge tells them. “They’re not alone either.”

Keith and Allura reappear on top of the mesa with Ontar on top of them. Before they can think, Ontar teleports off of them.

“Finally!”

They scramble to their feet with Kosmo growling in front of them.

They turn to see Lotor approaching them from the other end of the mesa with Ontar at his side. 

Lotor draws his sword before attacking them with Ontar.

A full scale battle erupts down on Arus. The Paladins and MFE’s are fighting the sentries on the ground while Keith, Allura, and Kosmo battle Lotor and Ontar. 

On the Atlas, the bridge crew can hear the fighting over the coms. 

Shiro grits his teeth in frustration at not knowing what's going on.

“Paladins! MFEs! What’s happening down there?”

“The Paladins are a little focused on not dying right now, Sir,” Griffin tells him as he and the MFEs hover low enough to open fire on the sentries. “There’s a massive wave of sentries coming from all the sentry factories.”

“What about Keith and Allura?” Shiro asks. “Are they down there too?”

“Negative, Sir,” Griffin tells him. “They and Keith’s wolf are in a fight with Lotor and that **_thing_ ** on top of one of the mesas.”

“Looks like one hell of a fight from up here!” Rizavi comments.

“Shiro! Take out the factories!” Pidge interrupts as she fires on the sentries. “We can’t spare the MFEs or we’re gonna die! Take 'em out!”

Coran lowers their position until they can visually spot the factories.

“Targets acquired and locked!” Iverson tells him.

“Light 'em up!” Shiro says.

Multiple laser beams hit all the factory entrances at once, destroying them.

“That should make the endless wave of sentries not so endless,” Lance comments.

“Sir, we have a visual on the Voltron Leader and the Princess,” Veronica tells him.

“On screen!”

The viewscreen opens in time to show Keith and Allura fighting seamlessly against Lotor. 

Keith gets thrown back across the ground and Allura catches the creature with her whip and holds it. Keith recovers quickly and slides under Allura’s whip to parry Lotor’s sword with his Luxite blade while Kosmo fights the creature with Allura.

“You fight like a Galra!” Lotor tells Keith.

“Can’t you people think of anything else to say to me?!” Keith asks. “I’ve heard that one so many times I’ve lost count.”

“Make sure the Lion hanger door is open,” Shiro tells the bridge crew before looking back at the screen. “Come on, Keith…”

On the ground, the wave of sentries is starting to decrease enough for the Paladins to call their Lions to them.

Suddenly, Ontar grabs Allura’s whip and launches her clear off the mesa with it.

Keith shoves Lotor away.

“Allura!”

Before Allura hits the ground, she’s caught by the Blue Lion.

“Thank you, Blue.”

“Looks like it’s just you and me,” Lotor says with Ontar at his side.

“Looks like it,” Keith says back with Kosmo at his.

After that Keith and Lotor get into an intense sword that has them teleporting around the mesas via their pets.

“Quiznak! They’re moving fast!” Coran exclaims as they try to follow the fight.

It’s a perfect stalemate until Ontar bites down on Kosmo’s back. Kosmo yelps before getting thrown off the mesa as well.

“Kosmo!” Keith exclaims.

Before Keith can do anything, Lotor disengages right before Ontar turns and jumps on Keith; pinning him beneath it.

“KEITH!” Shiro yells.

In one swift motion, it bites clean through the Paladin armor on Keith’s left shoulder, only missing Keith’s head because Keith moved it at the last second.

Keith’s cry of pain can be heard from the base of the mesa as it bites into his shoulder, making the Paladins all stop and look up toward the mesa.

Shiro, the Bridge crew, the MFE pilots, and Allura stare at it in horror and shock.

"Holy...!" Griffin exclaims.

“D…D… Did that _**thing**_ just **bite** _through_ the Paladin armor?!” Allura asks.

Gritting his teeth against the pain, Keith wedges his bayard between them and forms his railgun. His pained battle cry echoes across the desert right before a laser blast cuts through the center of Ontar where his barrel is pressed against it. Keith then turns his bayard back into a sword so that the blade materializes inside the blast wound and cuts it sideways through the creature with a yell.

“YES!” Shiro shouts in triumph as the other Paladins quickly get in their Lions and take off.

“NO!” Lotor yells as Keith staggers to his feet while clutching his injured shoulder, Ontar lying dead at his feet.

The triumph is short lived.

“You will pay dearly for my beloved pet!” Lotor yells in anger.

His left hand starts to glow the way Shiro’s old prosthetic used to before morphing into a cannon that catches everyone off guard.

“Could he do that before?!” Lance asks.

“ ** _No_** ** _!_ **” the other Paladins tell him.

The entire bridge, MFE fighters, and the Paladins are silent as the fight unfolds too fast for any of them to do anything but watch.

"You just could not stay away, could you?!" Lotor yells as he fires a blast of quintessence at Keith, who blocks it with the sword of his bayard. 

"You have taken everything from me!"

The force of it coupled with Keith's injury knocks him off balance and sends his bayard flying out of his hand.

It lands on the shorter mesa next to theirs.

"Everything was going perfectly until **you** showed up!"

Keith scrambles to his feet and takes a running leap from the mesa he’s on to the other mesa, just barely avoiding another blast of quintessence. He rolls onto the mesa, groaning in pain when his injured shoulder hits the ground.

"Everyone trusted me! Allura trusted me! The Paladins trusted me! Then you showed up and ruined everything!"

Keith grabs his bayard and brings his luxite blade up just in time to block a sword strike from Lotor.

"You were using them!" Keith counters. "Just like you used the Alteans!"

With all the strength he can muster, Keith shoves Lotor away from him.

Lotor staggers backward but recovers.

"You think you know the full story, Keith, just from hearing the word of one person?!" 

Lotor brings his left hand up and fires a blast that hits Keith square in the chest, sending him flying backward and skidding across the ground. 

"Well allow me to educate you, Keith!"

Lotor hits him with another shot that sends him skidding across the ground once more until he comes to a stop about a yard away from a butte on top of the mesa. 

"You do not!"

Lotor fires a final blast as Keith staggers to his feet that sends Keith through the base of the butte and off the mesa where he slams into the side of the mesa beside it hard enough to bounce off before hitting the desert floor below with a thud.

Shiro and the other Paladins are frozen in shock as they watch. They’ve seen Keith lose before but not in a sword fight and never this badly.

Keith groans and tries to get back up before collapsing back down and laying there for a while.

Lotor jumps down from the mesa to the ground in front of Keith too close for them to fire a laser.

“Get up…” Shiro whispers.

Keith makes another attempt to get up but falls again.

“Keith, get up!”

Keith manages to pick himself up enough to look at Lotor as he aims his cannon directly at Keith’s head.

"Now it is time to pay for your mistake..."

Lotor's cannon starts to glow.

“KEITH!” Shiro cries.

Suddenly, the Black Lion lands over Keith with a roar before swatting Lotor away from Keith.

"Oh, thank you Black!" Shiro breathes a small sigh of relief as Keith crawls into the Black Lion’s mouth.

It closes and Black takes off as Keith crawls up through the cockpit and all but collapses into the seat. 

“Keith! Keith, are you ok?!” Shiro asks frantically as the MFEs return to the Atlas and they and all 5 Lions head back out into Arus' upper atmosphere. 

“Yeah… yeah I’m ok…” Keith assures him weakly. “Kosmo…”

“I’ve got Kosmo, buddy,” Hunk assures him. “Kosmo’s fine, he just needs a rest.”

Before the 5 Lions can get back to the Atlas, a purple wormhole opens and three Altean mechs appear over Arus.

“First Lotor, then the fight that never ends with the sentries, and now **_this_ **?!” Pidge exclaims.

“Just another day at the office…” Lance deadpans.

“Guys, I hate to point out the obvious…” Hunk says while watching Keith lay back against Black's pilot seat through the Lion coms. 

Now that the adrenaline from his fight is wearing off, he's breathing heavily as his injuries become more acute.

“But Keith **_really_** can’t fight even one mech right now… let alone three…”

“Hunk’s right,” Shiro says. “We’re gonna have to run from this.”

“How? Allura’s out here,” Lance asks.

“We have enough of Allura’s energy stored for one jump,” Coran tells Shiro.

“Alright, we’re going to wormhole out of here,” Shiro tells them.

He turns to Keith.

“Keith, think you can hold on for a complete jump?”

“I have a choice...?” Keith sasses weakly, earning him a pained laugh from Shiro. 

Keith groans as he leans forward and grips the controls to the Black Lion.

"I’ll try…"

Coran opens the wormhole and Atlas goes through it with the 5 Lions close behind, the four other Paladins keeping a close eye on Keith and the Black Lion.

Shiro anxiously watches Keith on the video com at his post throughout the whole jump.

“Just hang in there Keith!” Shiro encourages him over and over again. “You’re doing great!”

They’re halfway through the jump when Keith starts fighting to remain conscious.

Shiro starts hearing the other Paladins encouraging Keith through the coms then.

 _“Hold on, Keith!”_

_“Hang in there, man!”_

_“We’re almost through! You’ll be ok!”_

_“Just a little further! You’re gonna make it!”_

“Just hang on a little longer!” Shiro pleads helplessly as he sees the end of the wormhole ahead. “We’re almost there! You'll be ok! Just hold on!”

Keith fights for as long as he can to remain conscious.

"Please hold on..."

They’re almost to the end when Keith loses consciousness completely.

“NO!”

The Black Lion falls toward the wall of the wormhole.

 _“I got him! Hang on, buddy!”_ Lance says, diving after the Black Lion in Red; their Lions exiting the wormhole in the same place.

Before Shiro can do anything, they exit the wormhole with three of the five Lions in tow.


	7. Red Paladins

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance and Keith are separated from the Atlas and crash land on a planet covered with powerful thunderstorms. While the Atlas struggles to reach them, Lance has to keep Keith alive on a planet that seems determined to kill him.

A blue wormhole ring opens over a cloud covered planet with three moons. The Black and Red Lions exit the wormhole. The Black Lion plummets through the clouds with Red flying after it.

“Keith! Come on Mullet, wake up!” Lance says over the coms.

In the Black Lion, Keith remains unconscious in the pilot seat.

Lightning strikes the Red Lion then, knocking out the Lion’s flight system.

“Crap!” Lance says as he tries to correct his Lion.

The two Lions plummet toward the planet’s surface.

“No, no, no… Come on Red!” Lance pleads as he watches Black fall in the other direction.

Suddenly, Red hits the ground and everything goes black.

~

Allura, Hunk, and Pidge hand Kosmo to Krolia to take care of after returning to the Atlas with their Lions before heading up to the bridge.

Shiro is sitting on the step for his post with his head in his hands when they arrive.

“He’s been like this since we left the wormhole,” Coran informs them gently from where he stands beside Shiro with Veronica and Iverson standing opposite to him.

Pidge and Hunk walk over to sit on either side of him and wrap him in a hug.

Seeing Shiro isn’t in a good emotional or mental state, Allura steps forward and takes command of the situation.

“I am able to locate the Lions. They should not be far, considering we were almost out of the wormhole when the Black Lion fell, but we must hurry. I will need to have the star map up for me to locate them.”

“I’ll get that up for you, Princess,” Iverson tells her as he moves to the captain’s post to convert it to the universal star map.

She turns to Veronica.

“Monitor the coms in case Lance is able to get a distress call out,” Allura tells her gently, knowing she’s likely just as worried as Shiro.

“Yes, Princess!” Veronica tells her before sitting at the scanners.

She turns to Coran.

“Take the remaining bridge crew and notify medbay to prepare a cryopod for healing. I fear Keith will surely be in need of it when we do find them.”

“Right away, Princess.”

Coran heads to medbay with the two remaining officers.

Allura turns to Shiro and calmly kneels down in front of him. She gently places her hands on his knees and Shiro drops his hands and looks at her looking completely lost.

She gives him an understanding smile and takes his hands in hers.

“We will find him, Shiro,” she assures him confidently.

“Wherever Keith is, he isn’t alone,” Hunk adds.

“Lance went after him. He’ll take care of Keith until we get there,” Pidge says.

~

Lance groans as he comes to.

“Red… you ok?” Lance asks the Lion.

Lance feels something that can only be described as Red saying, ‘ow’.

“Yeah, ow is right,” Lance agrees. “Hey helmet, is the air on this planet safe for me to breathe?”

“Affirmative! Air is safe for you to breathe,” his helmet’s computer tells him.

“Awesome! I’m gonna go look around.”

Lance opens the hatch on top of Red’s head and climbs out to look around. He finds the terrain he landed on is mostly barren rock and sand with storm clouds constantly overhead. No rain, just thunder and lightning.

“Wow… this looks kinda like the place where we found Blue, minus the storms.”

Then he remembers and turns toward where he saw Black fall.

“Keith! Keith come in!”

Nothing but static, but Black’s signal is showing Lance where they landed.

He jumps down from Red and begins to jet-pack toward the signal.

“Keith, if you can hear me, just hang on,” Lance says into the com. “I’m coming for you, buddy. Just hang on!”

~

Meanwhile in the Black Lion, Keith groans, blinking his eyes open as he finally regains consciousness. Keith staggers out of the Black Lion’s seat and down the ramp to look around.

“Where…” he groans as he looks around weakly. “Oh…” Keith says when he sees the storm clouds and rocks around the Black Lion. “Huh…”

Keith remembers the fight with Lotor then and the wormhole jump.

“Atlas? Atlas, are you receiving me?”

Static.

“Shiro? Allura? Anybody?”

More static.

Coughing and holding his injured shoulder, he staggers up the sand dune Black created when he crashed to get a better look.

“This is officially the middle of nowhere…”

Keith staggers back to Black and rests a hand on the Lion’s paw before turning until his back is pressed against it and sliding down. Keith flinches when he hears thunder rumble as lightning forks across the sky.

Keith hears something coming through the static of his com then as he starts coughing.

“…ith…ha…oming…”

“Lance?” Keith mutters.

“Keith! Keith, are you there?!” Lance says again.

“Lance! Lance, I’m here!” Keith says back over the com.

“Oh thank God! You scared the pee out of me!” Lance says back as he continues toward the signal.

“Where are the others? What happened?”

“It’s just you and me here,” Lance tells him. “You lost consciousness and fell out of the wormhole before we reached the end.”

“I’m sorry…” Keith breathes.

“Hey, don’t worry about it?” Lance tells him. “You’re injured. It’s ok.”

Keith hears a sound to his left then. He looks and tenses as several creatures that look kinda like a cross between a wolf and a cat growl at him.

“Uhh… Lance, how far away are you?”

“I can see the Black Lion’s wings from here,” Lance says. “Not much further. Why?”

“Good, ‘cause I have company and they look hungry…”

Keith clutches his injured shoulder and watches as the creatures start to surround him. He presses himself back as tight as he can against the Black Lion's paw as they close in. He shrinks back as one springs at him right before a shot rips right through it. 

Keith looks up as it drops dead at his feet to see Lance standing on top of the Black Lion’s nose with his gun raised to his eye.

Lance jumps down with his back to Keith and his gun aimed at them.

“Dinner’s canceled guys! Beat it!”

Lance stands firm in front of Keith, even as the creatures all move in on him at once. Suddenly, Lance’s bayard starts glowing.

A bit of light jumps onto Lance’s chest and forms a full red, cuirass complete with faulds that make him look like the image of Alfor they saw in the ship’s computer. His gun turns into his Altean broadsword.

“Bring it!” Lance says as he takes up a stance with his sword.

The creatures all attack him at once and Lance fights them off with several swipes of his sword. In no time, all but two are dead, and those two decide to retreat.

“That’s right! Get lost!”

“You tell ‘em, Lance…” Keith deadpans as he leans his head back against Black’s paw before he coughs some more.

Lance immediately turns and drops to his knees beside Keith. He pulls Keith’s uninjured arm over his shoulder and helps him up.

“Come on! Let’s get you safely inside Black before more of those things show up.”

~

Shiro is standing with Allura, Hunk, and Pidge as she steps up onto the platform with the teludav and activates the star map. It takes a while but eventually it pulls up a planet with three moons.

“We’re in luck!” Coran says. “That planet isn’t far at all.”

“I am afraid I cannot get an exact location as to where on the planet they are,” Allura says as she jumps down. “Something must be interfering.”

“Hey, searching an entire planet for two Lions is a hell of a lot narrower than searching an entire universe,” Pidge tells her.

“Can I get an eta?” Shiro says, finally resuming his post.

“A couple vargas,” says the crewman to Shiro's right.

"Thanks, Steve."

"It's Curtis."

“Let’s get moving then,” Shiro tells them.

‘Hang on Keith. We’re coming…’

~

“Alright, let’s look at those wounds,” Lance says.

He helps Keith sit down on the bed just behind the pilot seat. Together, Lance and Keith remove his Paladin breastplate, revealing a huge, bloody mess that goes from the base of Keith’s neck down the entire length of his collarbone to Keith’s shoulder.

“Jesus Christ!” Lance exclaims.

He immediately begins removing the armor on Keith’s arms before carefully pulling Keith’s under armour until it’s around his waist.

“That thing bit through the under armour too?! And look at all of these scrapes and bruises!!!”

He looks at Keith sympathetically.

“No wonder you lost consciousness…”

Keith starts coughing and wheezing for air.

“You ok?”

“Hard to breathe…”

“My read out said the air was breathable,” Lance says perplexed.

A thought hits him then.

“Unless…Helmet, is the air safe for **_Galra_** to breath?”

“Negative! Elements in the air are toxic for Galra to breathe.”

“Son of a Space Wolf!”

Lance immediately rips off his helmet and puts it on Keith’s head.

“There… that should make it easier to breathe,” he tells Keith while closing the mouth part of the helmet.

After a few breaths, Keith stops coughing and is breathing easier if a little ragged.

Once Lance is sure Keith isn’t going to suffocate to death, he retrieves the first aid kit and starts treating Keith’s wounds.

Lance is almost done when a large clap of thunder outside the Black Lion almost makes Keith jump out of his skin.

“Whoa! You ok?"

“Fine… I’m fine…” Keith tells him uneasily.

Lance shrugs and finishes treating Keith’s injuries.

“There… that should keep them clean until Shiro can get here…”

“Thanks…” Keith tells him tiredly as he lays down.

Lance moves the first aid kit onto the floor and settles himself on the head of the bed just above Keith’s head.

“It just hit me that I got a second bayard upgrade earlier,” Lance says.

Then he realizes something and turns to Keith.

“I thought you said the armor thing was a female Lion thing?! Last I checked, Red’s male.”

“Do I look like an expert in gendering mechanical Lions to you?” Keith sasses him. “Besides, 4 out of 5 ain’t bad.”

Lance snorts.

Another roar of thunder makes Keith jump again.

“Seriously Keith, are you ok?”

“Thunderstorms…” Keith complains. “Of _all_ the planets in the goddamn universe to crash on... I just had to find the **one** planet with perpetual thunderstorms…”

Lance quickly puts two and two together.

“You’re afraid of thunder?”

“What of it?!” Keith snaps defensively.

Another thunderclap makes him jump again and curl in on himself.

“Sorry… I’m sorry Lance…”

“Hey, hey it’s ok,” Lance soothes him as he moves Keith’s head onto his thigh like he always did when he and Veronica were kids and a hurricane was blowing through Cuba.

“No it isn’t… You’re trying to help me…” Keith whispers. “You even gave me your helmet…”

“Well, yeah… you need it more than I do.”

“And I really appreciate that…” Keith tells him before jumping again. “I should be more grateful.”

Lance frowns.

“Keith, you don’t have to be _anything_ ,” Lance tells him. “You’re **injured** and scared on a planet that seems designed to not only kill you but torment you while it does. It’s **OK**. You’re allowed to be prickly…”

“I guess I’m just… not used to people not making fun of me for it…”

Lance winces at that before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath.

“I don’t think I ever really apologized to you for that; did I?”

“For what?” Keith asks him.

“For how I treated you when we were cadets…” Lance tells him. “And then how I treated you when we first became Paladins. I had a lot of insecurities back then that stemmed largely from having dyslexia at the Garrison and having my piloting skills constantly being compared to yours. On top of that, you were hanging out with Shiro, my absolute idol **at the time**. I was jealous."

“I know I can come off as a cold jerk sometimes… and I **did** use to purposely knock you out of formation when we were cadets... ” Keith admits. “I wasn't trying to be an jerk... I genuinely didn’t understand that that was how I came across until I saw it in the abyss... I didn't realize that talking the way I did made me sound heartless or that knocking you out of formation might not have come across as me playing with you… It's just how I am… How I was made…I don't know why I'm like this, I just am.”

“And that’s not your fault, Keith!” Lance insists. “I mean, yeah you do kinda come off as a jerk sometimes... but… now that I’ve met your mom and know you’re part alien…It kinda makes sense actually... and now that I think about it, most of the stuff that was aimed at me was either because I goaded you into it or was pretty harmless...”

Lance takes a breath.

“And while we’re on the subject of being a jerk, I’m sorry for accusing you of using what we now know was Shiro’s death as a power play to take over… especially considering how you reacted when Black _actually_ chose you… And I’m sorry for what I said to you when we were lost in space… I mean, we were **_both_** being complete jackasses but you were the only one who apologized for it and that isn’t fair. So… I’m sorry.”

“If it makes you feel better... you're fun to argue with..." Keith admits with a smile.

Lance laughs.

"You may not believe this… But I always envied you…”

Lance is stunned into silence as Keith continues.

“You have a huge family that loves you, you’re funny, you fit in, people like you…you make friends with just about anyone...” Keith tells him. “I couldn’t even walk into a room without people whispering about how I was Shiro’s charity case and that I must be cheating on my exams or something like that... I heard all the rumors, even if no one thought I did...I couldn't even walk around the Garrison by myself without getting jumped… even now after getting a promotion, it’s still happening…”

“Wait! “Still happening”… You’re still getting bullied?!” Lance asks in alarm.

“I wouldn’t call it ‘bullying’ exactly…” Keith says. “I’m not getting jumped anymore, but I’m still getting some pretty nasty looks and hearing officers talk about me when they think I can’t hear… it’s either that or they blatantly ignoring me or an order I give…and then mock me when I try to enforce it...”

“Still, what have they been saying?"

"That I didn't earn my promotion... that I flirted my way to being Shiro's second-in-command... Same crap, different toilet."

Lance frowns.

"You almost **died** several times liberating Earth! How is that not earning it?!" Lance asks indignantly. "Seriously, how long has this been happening?”

Keith’s silence only makes Lance more nervous.

“ ** _Keith_ **…” He tries again sternly. “How long has this been happening?”

“Ever since I was outed as being part Galra...”

“Keith, that was a month ago!” Lance exclaims. “Does anyone else know?!”

A thought occurs to him.

“Does Shiro?!”

“You’re the first person I’ve told…”

“Keith, why didn’t you say anything?!” Lance asks him. “We could make it stop! Hell, Shiro would probably make them all walk home from here and we're clear on the other side of the universe from Earth.”

“I don't want to cause any problems for Shiro... Everyone has more important things to worry about… ” Keith tells Lance weakly. “Doesn’t matter… I'm used to it... kinda expected it really.”

“Keith…” Lance begins seriously. “Where did you get this idea that what you need isn’t important?! Who told you that your feelings don’t matter?! That your comfort doesn’t matter?! That your problems are something that will just cause trouble...That **you** aren’t important! Who put that idea into your head?!”

“The Home…” Keith breathes. “Foster homes… school… the Garrison…”

Lance feels like he’s been kicked in the stomach. He doesn’t expect Keith to continue, but he does.

“Welcome to the real world… all you have in life is yourself…why are you like this… why are you still crying… get over it…why do you react this way to loud noises... why don't you pay attention... why can’t you be like everyone else… why are you such a jerk… you’re not special… no one cares about you… no one wants you… stupid… useless… selfish…troublemaker… discipline case… charity case... can’t be trusted… unreliable… not worth the trouble… a failure… only thinking of himself… ”

Tears start to roll down Lance’s face as Keith continues listing off everything he’s ever been told or called in his life; some of which Lance can’t even bear to repeat. He knows for a fact he’s said some of the lesser ones to Keith himself, especially right after Shiro “disappeared”.

“I’m sorry, Keith…” Lance tells him through his tears. “I’m so sorry… you didn’t deserve any of that and the fact that I…”

Lance breaks off on a sob.

“I’m so sorry, Keith.”

For several minutes, neither of them speaks as Lance cries.

“Lance…” Keith says quietly when Lance’s tears subside.

“Yeah?” he says with a sniffle.

“If I die… I want you to lead Voltron…”

Lance panics at the request.

“That’s not going to happen, Keith,” Lance assures him. “Shiro will be here soon. You’ll make it out of here.”

Keith smiles weakly.

“That’s what I said…”

“Yeah well, this is different!” Lance insists. “I promise, nothing’s going to happen to you.”

“Said that too…”

“Keith, I promise. I won't let you die here. I promise, you’ll be ok!”

Keith doesn’t respond.

“Keith?”

Lance places his hand on Keith’s bare shoulder to shake him a little and quickly withdraws when he feels how hot Keith is.

“Crow!”

Lance gently moves Keith’s head off his lap before getting up. He looks at Keith to see he’s lost consciousness again and he's breathing heavily. Lance holds the scanner on the arm of his Paladin armor toward Keith.

“Computer, run medical scan on Keith!”

“Body temperature: 101 degrees Fahrenheit and rising… cause: toxic air trapped in lungs. Suggested treatment: Pure oxygen therapy and time in a hyperbaric oxygen unit.”

“No, no, no, no… Keith! Come on, Mullet, wake up!” Lance begs Keith as he gives the older man a gentle shake. “This is bad!” he frets when Keith doesn’t respond. “This is really bad!”

Lance gets an idea then.

“Helmet, convert all power to air filtration so that it’s giving out nothing but oxygen.”

“Acknowledged!”

Keith’s breathing evens out but he doesn’t regain consciousness.

“Hang on, Keith…" Lance tells him. "Shiro will be here soon... just hang on.”

~

Atlas pulls up to the planet.

“That explains why we couldn’t get an exact location,” Pidge says when they see the planet. “The entire planet is basically covered in one giant thunderstorm. The constant electricity is interfering with our ability to detect the Lions’ exact location.”

“Can we still get a message through?” Shiro asks.

“Yep! Hang on a tic… Alright, we should be able to get a video com through to the Black Lion,” Pidge tells him. “The com is all yours.”

“Keith. Lance. Come in,” Shiro tries.

A few tics later, Lance appears on the screen.

“Shiro? Oh my god, your timing is perfect!”

“It’s us,” Pidge tells him.

Then she notices something odd.

“Hey what happened to your helmet?”

“Not important! Please tell me you guys are close by!” Lance says earnestly.

“We’re in orbit above the planet you’re on, but the storms are keeping us from finding your exact location,” Shiro explains. “We’re going to need you guys to fly your Lions up to us.”

Lance gives him a pained look.

“That… might be an issue,” he tells them before stepping back to show the bed behind him.

They can just make out the form on the bed behind him with Lance’s helmet.

Shiro’s heart jumps into his throat when he realizes it's Keith.

“My helmet is literally the only thing keeping Keith breathing right now. Something in this planet’s atmosphere is killing him. He’s alive and breathing but he’s not conscious. There’s no way he can pilot Black right now.”

“What about the Red Lion?” Shiro asks.

“Or Allura, Hunk, and I can come get you in our Lions,” Pidge suggests.

“Red was struck by lightning when we arrived. His flight system is still down,” Lance says. "I've been trying to call him but he basically told me to 'go away'."

“So if we go down there to get you, it could happen to us too,” Pidge says.

“There must be something we can do!” Allura says.

She gets an idea.

“Lance, what if **you** tried to pilot the Black Lion?”

“Me?!”

“You think Black will accept Lance?” Pidge asks her.

“We do not have a choice,” Allura tells them. "Unless Atlas has a tractor beam I am unaware of."

Lance looks over at Keith for a moment.

“I’ll try,” Lance says looking back at them with determination. “Keith needs to get back to the Atlas and I made him a promise I intend to keep.”

Shiro closes his eyes as Lance sits down at the Black’s controls.

‘Please let this work… please Black, let Lance fly you… If he doesn’t, Keith will die…Please don't let him be taken from us...’

Nothing.

'Please don't let him be taken from me.'

“Holy Crow! It’s like a purple Christmas tree here!!”

Shiro opens his eyes and looks.

Sure enough, the Black Lion’s cockpit is glowing purple.

“It worked!!” Pidge exclaims.

“Oh thank God!” Shiro exclaims.

“Ok, I need to pick up Red and then I’m heading up!” Lance tells them.

5 doboshes later, they can see the Black Lion carrying the Red Lion in his mouth as he moves through the cloud cover.

~

Shiro is waiting with the med crew in the Lion hanger when they land.

He runs ahead as soon as the Black Lion lowers his head and sees Keith is still unconscious behind the pilot seat. He carefully picks Keith up and moves him to a stretcher. The med crew removes Lance’s helmet to place an oxygen mask on Keith. Shiro follows them to med bay where Shiro helps them change him into a hospital gown and place him in a horizontal cryopod. Shiro then sits in a chair beside the pod and watches over Keith as he heals.

Shiro is still sitting in the chair when he feels a hand on his shoulder.

He turns to see Krolia beside him.

He moves to get up.

“No, stay,” Krolia insists. “You have more than earned it. I know how worried you were for my son.”

For a while, neither of them speak.

“I told your clone this, but I think you should hear it too. Thank you for helping Keith become the man he is today.”

“I really didn’t do that much…” Shiro tells her modestly.

“That's not the impression I got at the award ceremony,” Krolia says frankly. “It sounded to me like you were literally the only person who believed in Keith.”

“It also seems like the minute I was gone, they kicked him out,” Shiro says bitterly.

“You know he does not blame you for that, right?” Krolia asks. “He might have at first, but he has had time to accept it was not your fault.”

Of course Keith doesn’t. Shiro knows he doesn’t and probably never did. That doesn’t stop Shiro from blaming himself for what he suspects happened. Why else would Iverson feel the need to apologize to Keith publicly for whatever got him expelled if the Garrison hadn't pulled something super shady?

Krolia pulls what looks like a photograph out of her pocket.

“What’s that?” Shiro asks.

“The only picture I had of Keith and his father after I left,” Krolia tells him. “I know well what you feel. I know in my heart what I did was right. I had to leave them and I know Keith does not blame me anymore for leaving. But knowing what happened, knowing that Keith’s father died while I was away, knowing how much Keith suffered as a result, how alone he was for so long…”

Shiro wants to say that that was different, that she left to _protect_ Keith while Shiro left for himself, but he senses that won't go very far so he just keeps quiet.

“Would you like to see what my son looked like as a baby?” Krolia asks Shiro.

It takes Shiro all of a tic to think about it.

“Yeah I would!”

Krolia holds the picture so Shiro can see and a stupid grin spreads across his face. 

Keith is in Krolia's arms swaddled in a red blanket.

“How old is he here?” Shiro asks her with a ridiculous grin on his face.

“About 3 months old,” Krolia tells him. "This was right before I left."

Shiro grins as he looks at the man standing beside Krolia. He's suddenly struck by a sense of familiarity.

“You said this is Keith’s father?” Shiro asks, thinking that's why at first. There _is_ a remarkable resemblance.

“It is,” Krolia tells him.

Shiro sees the scar above Keith’s dad’s eye and suddenly Shiro’s 13 and his bedroom is engulfed in flames.

In rapid succession, he sees himself curled up on the floor coughing on the smoke but not being unable to get himself out, a fireman with a scar above his eye coming in and carrying Shiro out of the room, sees himself being set down outside, sees the same fireman run back into the building to save Shiro’s parents, and the building collapsing before slamming back to present with a gasp.

“Are you alright?” Krolia asks Shiro with concern.

“Fine... I’m fine,” Shiro says as he gasps for air. “I… I think I'm just tired…”

Krolia gives him an understanding smile.

“Go get some rest then. I will watch over him,” she tells him.

It takes every ounce of willpower Shiro has not to stagger out the door in shock.

The hallway between med bay and the elevator is thankfully empty for once. Once in the safety of his quarters, Shiro presses his back against the door and slides down until he’s sitting on the floor; gasping for air in shock.

When he manages to calm himself down, he crawls over to a box he keeps on the shelf and opens it.

Just inside is a newspaper article.

**_Tragedy! House Fire Kills 3, Including Firefighter._ **


	8. Blackened Flame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pidge unveils the new upgraded armor while they wait for Keith to finish healing. Feeling guilty about his connection to the death of Keith's father, Shiro starts avoiding Keith without an explanation; hurting Keith in the process. Meanwhile Lance tells the other Paladins that Keith is getting bullied again for being Galra and they become Keith's official unofficial bodyguards. However the more they spend time with him, the more they notice that Keith being bullied turns out to be the least of their concerns as it becomes clear that something is wrong with Keith.

_ 13 year old Shiro is sleeping in the room he shares with his 7 year old brother, Ryou when the smell of smoke awakens him.  _

_ He sits up and looks around before spotting the smoke coming under the door. He gets up and lightly shakes his younger brother.  _

_ “Ryou… Ryou, wake up!”  _

_ Ryou opens his eyes and immediately smells the smoke. He sits bolt upright in his bed and spots the smoke.  _

_ Ryou crawls over to the door and tests the temperature of the door with the back of his hands. He pulls the sleeve of his pajamas over his hand to open the door and is immediately met with the sight of fire in their living room quickly creeping toward the hall to their bedroom door. _

_ Ryou immediately closes the door again. _

_ “Nope…not going that way!”  _

_ Ryou runs to the window in their room and opens it. _

_ “We can get out through the window! Our house is only one story!” _

_ Shiro gets up from his brother's bed to help him, but halfway across the room he suddenly collapses to the ground in pain.  _

_ “Takashi!”  _

_ Ryou runs to his older brother.  _

_ “My disease has the best timing, I swear!” Shiro grunts through gritted teeth as he looks down at his legs that are suddenly having a spasm.  _

_ “Can you crawl to the window?” Ryou asks him. _

_ “I don’t think so…” Shiro tells him, pain etched on his face.  _

_ Ryou tries to help Shiro stand but Shiro’s too heavy for him. The most he can do is drag Shiro under the window.  _

_ “I think I’m stuck here...” Shiro tells him.  _

_ Suddenly, they both look back at the door as the fire reaches it, flames peeking under the door.  _

_ Shiro sighs in resignation and turns to look at his little brother. _

_ “I can’t get out of here, but you can,” Shiro tells him, putting a hand on his little brother’s shoulder. _

_ Ryou looks at Shiro like he sprouted a third head. _

_ “Wait, what?”  _

_ “Go…” Shiro encourages him gently. “Go without me…”  _

_ “What about you?!” Ryou asks him. “If I leave you here, you’ll die!”  _

_ “I know, Ryou. It’s ok. Just go without me.” _

_ Ryou frowns at Shiro. _

_ “No! I’m not leaving you!”  _

_ “Ryou, please! I can’t sit here and watch you die! Please, just go!”  _

_ “And you think I can just leave here knowing I’m leaving you here to die?!” Ryou argues. “You’re my big brother, Takashi! I’m not going to abandon you! Either we both get out or neither of us do.”  _

_ Ryou sits down beneath the window and hugs his older brother in his arms. _

_ “You’re a stubborn mule, you know that right?” Shiro tells him as he hugs Ryou back. _

_ “Pot meet kettle…” Ryou tells him.  _

_ Shiro smiles as the fire quickly engulfs their bedroom door. _

~

“Atlas to Shiro!”

Shiro snaps out of his thoughts then and looks around to see he’s in Pidge’s lab. He looks down to see a mildly annoyed Pidge standing in front of him with her hands on her hips while tapping her foot.

“I know my techno babble can be boring sometimes but really?!”

“Sorry Pidge. Please continue,” Shiro tells her while giving her an apologetic smile.

“I was just explaining to the others that I’ve been using the past movement that Keith’s been in med bay to finish the new upgraded Paladin armor for everyone. With Keith’s armor getting completely destroyed during his fight with Lotor’s "pet", I figured I should step up my work a bit,” she says, motioning to six mannequins with the new armor on it. “I integrated Earth and Olkarian nanotechnology with Olkarian engineering techniques and Altean tech so that the armor can be stored entirely within the pin. As long as you’re wearing the pin, you can turn it on anywhere and over any clothes. Just tap the V to activate it. It can either be taken off manually or by tapping the V again. Everyone’s armor works just like their old ones except I changed the shape of the breastplate so we don’t get stabbed by the points on it anymore whenever we flex the wrong way and upgraded all of the existing features to work better. I also changed a few of the minor details, like the shape of the V on the breastplate and helmets.”

“These look awesome, Pidge!” Hunk tells her as he looks at his new armor.

"I am always amazed how you find ways to integrate different technologies together," Allura compliments her.

“Also, I added little belt pouches to put things in and Lance, your armor and helmet will still read things out loud on voice command.”

“I love you too, Pidge,” Lance tells her.

“I made one for you too, Shiro,” she tells him as she points to the Black Paladin armor in the back.

“For me?” Shiro asks as he wistfully touches the armor. “But… I’m not a Paladin anymore…”

WHAP!

“Ow!” 

Shiro flinches away clutching his left bicep where Pidge punched him.

“You stop that right now, young man!” Pidge tells him firmly. “There will be none of that in my lab!”

For a moment he swears he’s looking at Dr. Holt.

“Shiro, you will always be one of the Paladins,” Allura tells him gently.

“Besides, aren’t you pretty much the Paladin for the Atlas?” Hunk asks him.

“I guess I never saw it like that…” Shiro points out, still not looking very convinced, but no less touched.

He turns to her.

“I don’t mean to sound ungrateful… thank you Pidge.”

Lance silently looks at his helmet before looking up at Keith’s red Paladin armor.

“Hey, do we know when Keith is supposed to get out of med bay?”

"You know he is to be released today,” Allura reminds him gently.

“No, I mean when today?”

“In about two vargas,” Pidge tells him.

“That means hours, Lance,” Hunk teases him.

“That was one time!” Lance says with a defensive laugh as Hunk, Pidge, and Allura start laughing. “One time guys!”

Shiro can’t help but feel a little left out by the joke.

“Maybe we should all be there when the pod opens,” Hunk suggests when they stop laughing. “I mean, Keith nearly died. Again. He’d probably want to see us all.”

“I’m in,” Pidge says.

“Likewise,” Allura adds.

“I’m definitely going to be there!” Lance says.

“I… I can’t,” Shiro says anxiously as he rubs his head. “I’m… supposed to be in a meeting with some of the other Garrison officers later today.”

“The captain’s allowed to be late, Shiro,” Pidge points out.

“They are not going to start without you,” Allura reminds him.

“Yeah, Keith would want to see you,” Hunk tells him. “I mean, like I said, he almost died.”

Shiro winces at the memory.

“I know, I know... I’m sorry... I wish I could, but I can’t,” Shiro apologizes as he heads toward the door.

“Whatever, Captain Workaholic,” Lance comments with an eye roll.

Shiro winces again at the nickname as he leaves.

~

Two hours later, Keith blinks his eyes open as his cryopod opens.

He looks and sees his mom and Kolivan with Pidge, Allura, Hunk, and Lance.

“Mom…” Keith says with a tired smile. Krolia returns the smile as she helps him sit in the cryopod.

“How are you feeling?” Allura asks as she, Hunk, and Pidge hug him.

“Tired… and a little hungry… but otherwise fine,” Keith tells him honestly.

Lance gives Keith a hug from behind.

“I’m so glad you’re ok!” he cries.

“Thanks to you,” Keith tells him as he pats Lance’s arm.

As Keith stands there's a BOOF! sound and suddenly Kosmo appears and jumps on him.

"Kosmo!" Keith exclaims between slobbery wolf kisses. "I'm glad you're ok too!"

Then Keith notices who isn’t there.

“Where’s Shiro?” he asks.

“Captain Workaholic  _ claims _ he has a meeting with some of the other Garrison officers right now,” Pidge tells him. “Though I find it funny that my dad…  **his chief engineer** … hasn’t heard of such a meeting.”

“Shiro regularly has video conferences with the Garrison back on earth to check in with our progress,” Keith covers for him.

“Hey, you just said you were hungry, right?” Hunk asks. “Let’s go down to the mess hall for food.”

Lance and Krolia help Keith through the door to med bay

Shiro stands hidden in the other doorway. He smiles in relief that Keith is ok before walking away.

~

The next day, Keith is walking in the hall with Lance when they run into a pair of Garrison officers on the adjacent hallway.

“Admirals,” Keith greets them with a nod.

Both admirals blatantly ignore Keith’s greeting and continue walking. Keith just shrugs, but Lance catches it.

Later during the afternoon, the two of them are in the training deck where Keith is teaching Lance a few advanced sword moves when they both notice some cadets eyeing Keith with suspicion while whispering behind their hands. Keith just goes back to teaching him, but Lance can see the look on his face change from focused determination to what looks like sad resignation.

That night and the following morning, Lance sees other instances where Keith is just living his life, minding his own business or doing his job and various Garrison officers and cadets will treat him like he’s either not there or like he can’t be trusted. Some completely disregard his authority as Shiro’s second-in-command and on more than one occasion, basically accuse him of flirting with Shiro to get his promotion.

In front of Lance.

Even more infuriating is that Keith never defends himself.

“Guys, we have a problem!” Lance tells the other Paladins as he walks into Pidge’s lab to find her, Hunk, and Allura talking with Romelle and Griffin.

“Hello to you too,” Griffin says with a raised eyebrow.

“Can it, Griffin! I don’t have time for this!”

Lance stops near them.

“Holy quiznak! You’ve been hanging out with Keith too much,” Hunk remarks with a laugh.

“I think we’re all about to be spending more time with Keith right now,” Lance tells them bluntly. “Keith told me when we were stranded that he’s been getting bullied by some of the other Garrison officers and cadets again.”

The outrage is instantaneous with Hunk, Lance, Pidge, and Griffin.

“Are you serious right now?” Griffin asks angrily.

“As a heart attack,” Lance tells him. “I just spent the last day and a half with him and I got to witness it with my own blue eyes.”

“How bad is it?” Hunk asks.

“He’s not getting beaten up… at least not yet… but he’s getting some pretty nasty glares and comments,” Lance tells him. “Either that or they ignore his presence or disregard his authority completely. ”

“I am confused. What is bullying?” Allura asks for herself and Romelle.

“It means there are people on this ship who are harassing him for God knows what reason!” Griffin tells them.

“Oh I know the reason!” Lance tells them. “It’s been happening since he was outed as being part Galra to the whole crew so I think it’s pretty clear what the reason is. ”

“Seriously, man?!” Hunk asks.

"A few of them have been basically accusing him of whoring himself out for his promotion instead of earning it," Lance tells them.

"He almost  **died** ! How is that not earning it?!"Griffin exclaims furiously.

Pidge goes pale.

“The inevitable fall from grace…” she says sadly. “Keith was right…”

“The what?” Hunk asks as they all look at her.

“Something Keith told me at the party on Rada almost right before he was outed,” Pidge says as she looks up at them. “He said that his promotion was just a PR stunt by the Garrison to make themselves look good because his uniform is literally a cadet uniform with commander stripes on it. He said that eventually they would turn on him. He called it his “inevitable fall from grace” and he knew it was going to happen, because it's before.”

“That it has,” Griffin confirms with a sigh.

“I have a question; why is this the first we’ve heard about it if it’s been going on for over a month?” Hunk asks. “Why hasn’t Keith said anything?”

“Who cares? We need to make it stop!” Pidge states.

“Well I for one will not be tolerating such behavior on this ship!” Allura states angrily. “My rank gives me the same authority as Shiro.”

“Hate to be the one to break this to you, your Highness, but if Keith’s promotion was a PR stunt; yours likely was too,” James tells her respectfully. “Your uniform isn’t just pink, parts of your uniform are off color. With the exception of you guys, the bridge crew, us MFE fighters, and maybe a few others; I doubt the Garrison crew members will respect your authority any more than they will Keith’s.”

"You know, I kinda dare them to," Pidge remarks knowingly.

“We have to do something!” Lance says.

“Where is Keith right now?” Romelle asks worriedly.

“I left him with Krolia and Kolivan for his Blade meeting. No one would dare harass him in  **their** presence,” Lance tells them.

~

An hour later when Keith gets out of his meeting, he runs straight into Shiro.

“Shiro, hey! I haven’t seen you at all since I woke up.”

“Oh, hey Keith, I’m glad you’re ok,” Shiro tells him tensely.

Keith picks up on it.

“Is something wrong, Shiro?” Keith asks him.

“What? No! Nothing’s wrong,” Shiro says.

He spots the dark skinned officer from the bridge then and seizes onto the quick escape.

“Sorry Keith, I have to be going,” Shiro tells Keith before getting the officer’s attention.

“Hey, Kevin, is it?” Shiro asks.

“It’s Curtis, sir.”

“Right, sorry…”

Keith watches them walk away feeling slightly confused and a little hurt.

~

The following morning, they have their first Voltron/Atlas fight with their improved armor. Afterward, Lance and Keith are on the training deck again, this time spotting each other when they both hear whispers.

He looks up and sees some officers he recognizes from when they were cadets.

“That’s the guy I told you about…”

“The one whose part Galra?”

“Isn’t he the same kid that was Shirogane’s charity case?”

“That’s him.”

“And now Shirogane has made him second-in-command? Is he nuts?! Doesn't he know what Keith is?”

"Bet he regrets it now. Why else are they no longer tied at the hip anymore?"

“I hear he flirted his way to second-in-command anyway."

"Once a cheater, always a cheater.”

Lance looks at Keith as they talk and can see the same look of sad resignation on his face as before.

Lance turns and stands up straight.

“Hey!” 

It's so sudden the group all jumps. 

“Why don't you come over here and say that to our face?!”

For several minutes, they stare at each other until Lance stares them down and they leave.

“Thanks,” Keith tells him with a little smile.

“Anytime, Mullet,” Lance tells him fondly.

Lance turns his back to rack up his weights when suddenly he hears the undeniable sound of a weight being dropped on the floor.

He turns back around to see Keith stumbling backward clutching his head with one hand, breathing heavily.

“Keith!”

Lance catches Keith as he collapses and lowers them both to the ground.

“Hey, are you ok?!”

It takes a few minutes for Keith to be able to respond.

“Yeah… yeah... Just a little lightheaded...dizzy...” Keith tells him. “I think… I think I might have overdid it today…”

“We did just come off of a fight…” Lance says. “Here, let me help you get back to your quarters.”

Lance then guides him out the door.

~

_ Shiro and Ryou cough on the smoke as the flames engulf the room, forcing the two of them away from under the window.  _

_ Suddenly, a figure appears in the flames around the door.  _

_ “You kids need to get out of here,” the firefighter tells them. “It isn’t safe.”  _

_ “You don’t say?” Ryou sasses the firefighter. “My brother can’t walk and I’m not leaving without him.” _

_ The firefighter opens the visor on his hat and Shiro can see a scar above his eye as he looks at them understandingly. _

_ “Nor should you,” he tells Ryou. _

_ He crouches down to slip his arms under Shiro’s knees and back before lifting him up like he weighs nothing.  _

_ He then turns to Ryou.  _

_ “Think you can hold onto my back while I carry your brother out?”  _

_ Ryou nods and hops onto the back of the firefighter and off they go through the flames. _

~

“Shiro?”

Shiro blinks as he’s pulled from his memories and looks up as Keith sits beside him on the couch the next day in their private lounge.

“Everything alright?” Keith asks worriedly.

“Yeah… yeah I’m fine. Just thinking.”

Shiro stands and heads for the lift to press the button.

“Shiro, did I do something wrong?”

Shiro feels like there’s a knife in his heart at Keith’s tentative question.

He turns and faces a very hurt looking Keith.

“What? No! No! No!” Shiro assures him quickly. “Keith, you didn’t do anything wrong?”

“Then why have you been avoiding me?”

“I’m… I’m not avoiding you…” Shiro denies, weakly.

At that moment, the lift arrives.

“I’ve gotta go,” Shiro says as he steps in the lift.

When the doors close and the lift starts moving, Shiro presses his head against the cold metal of it and squeezes his eyes shut.

“I’m sorry Keith…”

~

Keith is leaving the mess hall with Acxa after lunch when they both hear the whispers from a table as they pass it.

"Didn't take him long to move on to someone else, did it?"

"Birds of a feather."

"Seriously, why are either of them on the crew?"

Acxa watches Keith's shoulders slump a little more with each comment.

Acxa thinks for a moment.

"Reminds me of military training with the Empire," she comments. "It wasn't uncommon for other trainees to make such comments when they thought I couldn't hear or just didn’t care."

"That was actually mild," Keith tells her. "I've dealt with worse."

"As have I," Acxa assures him.

"How did you deal with them?" Keith asks.

"I reminded myself that their opinions of me don't matter," Acxa tells him. "They do not know me. I know me."

"I guess that's true," Keith says.

"Besides, they were all fools and most of them are dead now anyway," Acxa adds.

Keith laughs. 

To anyone else, that would sound cold, heartless, and a bit morbid, but Keith has noticed he and Acxa share the same sense of humor.

That was Acxa telling a joke.

"Thanks, Acxa," he tells her with a smile, getting him a half-smile in return.

~

Two days later, they’re getting out of a debriefing following another mission when Lance spots Keith standing off to the side, leaning against the wall.

“Hey Mullet, let’s go get some grub!” Lance calls.

At first, Lance doesn't think anything of it when Keith doesn’t respond.

“Keith?”

Lance walks up to him, calling his name a few more times.

It isn't until Lance rounds Keith to find him staring at the floor that Lance starts to worry. That worry doubles the minute Lance looks at Keith's face.

Keith literally looks like he could faint at any moment.

“Keith?!”

He puts a hand on Keith’s shoulder and Keith startles and looks up at Lance.

“Lance…”

“Keith, seriously are you ok?”

Lance puts both hands on Keith’s shoulders as he speaks.

“You keep having dizzy spells, you’re getting headaches more often, you fainted, you’re suddenly getting short of breath for stupid shit like talking lot and walking, and just now you looked like you were about to collapse.”

Shiro is leaving the debriefing when he looks down the corridor and catches sight of Lance with both hands on Keith’s shoulders, talking to him. He frowns when he sees the worried expression on Lance’s face.

“I’m fine Lance,” Keith assures him. “Just tired…”

“You’re ALWAYS tired now! Seriously, what is going on, Keith?”

“It’s nothing! Just a space cold or something. I’ll be fine. Just need to lie down.”

Lance gets a nagging feeling he’s only ever felt once. Frowning, Lance knows what he needs to do.

When Shiro sees Lance supporting Keith to the nearby lift, he moves to check on them.

“Captain!”

Shiro turns to see the dark-skinned officer from the bridge.

“I have that report you requested!” he tells Shiro while leading him in the opposite direction.

Shiro looks back to where Lance and Keith are waiting for the lift quickly before addressing him.

“Er…right… Was it Carl?”

“Curtis.”

“Sorry, I’m bad at names.”

“Hey, you got the first initial. It's progress.”

As they get in the lift, Keith sees Shiro walking off with what’s his name from the bridge and feels a pang of hurt in his chest as the doors close.

~

Lance escorts Keith to his quarters so no one harasses him between the briefing room and his quarters (apparently word got around to the cadets and officers fast that the other Paladins and Griffin aren’t afraid to stand up for Keith because they’ve stopped as long as one of them is present. As predicted, no one dares disrespect him when he's with Krolia or Kolivan, though Acxa has told him they do it in front of her. They only disrespected Allura's authority once. Higher officers are still a problem, but it’s progress) before heading down to Pidge’s lab to find her working on something with Hunk eating a bag of Corn Crisps as heavy metal music blares through her speakers.

“Ah, good you two are here. Do either of you know where Allura is?”

“Right behind you, Lance,” Allura says as Pidge turns down her music.

She walks up behind Lance, stopping to give him a kiss.

“What’s up, man? You look worried,” Hunk points out.

“I think something’s wrong with Keith,” Lance blurts out to them. “Have any of you noticed how often he’s been getting headaches lately? Or having dizzy spells? Or getting short of breath?”

"Now that you mention it, he fainted twice when he was with me," Allura tells them. "When I asked, he would just say he was tired.”

“That’s another thing to add to the list,” Lance says. “He's  _ always _ tired now!”

“The Black Lion  **does** take more out of its pilot than the rest of our Lions,” Pidge points out. “And he  **did** get a concussion when our Lions fell to Earth after the robeast explosion.”

“Look, I know that  _ should _ explain it, but something doesn’t feel right.”

“You think he might be hurt?” Hunk asks.

“All I know is, I have a nagging feeling there’s something more going on here than we realize,” Lance tells them. “Last time I had a feeling like this; I did nothing and Shiro turned out to be a clone while the  **real** Shiro was in the Infinite void. Not making that mistake twice.”

“ _ That _ is an excellent point, Lance,” Allura points out as the others start thinking about this more seriously.

“You know…” Pidge begins thoughtfully. “I have an upgrade for Keith’s armor that he’s coming in for later today and I need him to stand on the scanner anyway to calibrate it correctly. I could run medical scans while I do to see if something else is going on.”

“Please do,” Lance tells her. "The sooner we know what's going on, the sooner we can help him."

~

_ The firefighter with the scar over his eye carries Shiro and his brother out of the burning house and sets Shiro down on the stretcher for a nearby ambulance as Ryou hops down to stand next to him.  _

_ The firefighter moves to go back into the house to get Shiro and Ryou’s parents when several of the other firefighters try to stop him.  _

_ “The place could go any minute! It’s not safe!” they all said.  _

_ “There are people in there! I have to try!” he tells them before running back in.  _

_ Two minutes later, the entire house collapses before any of them can get out. _

_ “Mom… Dad…” Ryou whispers as tears roll down his face. _

_ Shiro hugs his little brother tight as they’re loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital. _

~

“Shiro…”

Shiro glances over his shoulder and does a double take when he sees how tentative Keith looks in the doorway of the observation deck.

“Keith…”

“You look like something’s bothering you,” Keith points out.

“Oh you know… just captaining stress…” Shiro brushes off as he leaves.

Keith glares and grabs Shiro’s left arm, making him stop and look back.

“Keith, I have to go…”

“Don’t tell me you’re not avoiding me, Shiro! I'm not stupid!” Keith snaps at him. “Because this right here.” Keith gestures between him and Shiro. “This is called “avoiding.”

Shiro sighs in defeat.

“I know… I’m sorry Keith, I just have a lot on my mind right now…” Shiro tells him.

“So talk to me. Maybe I can help.”

“I can’t Keith… I’m sorry but I can’t.” Shiro responds to him genuinely.

“Can you at least tell me why you can’t tell me?”

“I’m sorry, it's complicated, I… Please don’t push this anymore.”

Keith's shoulders slump in defeat.

“I’m supposed to go get an upgrade for my armor from Pidge soon anyway…”

Keith leaves the observation deck without looking back.

Shiro watches Keith leave with a pained expression on his face.

~

Keith puts on his armor and drops by Pidge’s lab.

“Sorry I’m early…” Keith tells her glumly without looking at her.

“Don’t worry about it! I’m kinda glad you did,” Pidge rambles as she has him stand on the scanner beside her desk. “Hang on a few doboshes, Keith. I just need to calibrate it.”

“Take your time,” Keith tells her sullenly.

Pidge starts rambling to him as she does the calibrations while discreetly running every medical scan she can at the same time.

“Have you noticed Shiro’s been acting strange lately?” Keith asks Pidge suddenly.

“Strange how?”

"He keeps avoiding me…" Keith points out to her. "Something’s bothering him… I know something is bothering him, but he won’t talk to me.”

“Shiro has a lot on his mind right now, Keith,” Pidge tells him.

“That’s what he keeps telling me. But then why won't he tell me?"

“I think he's scared, Keith and feels a little guilty for what happened to you. According to Dad, he’s been having a really hard time accepting that he’s on the sidelines now while we’re all running head first into danger.”

Keith looks up at her in surprise.

“He is?”

“Keith, you didn’t see him after we lost you and Lance in the wormhole. He was completely heartbroken. He was so beside himself that Allura had to take over command. Seeing you get as badly hurt as you were scared the quiznak out of him and losing you made it so much worse. As weird as it sounds, I think he’s trying to accept this is his role now.”

“I guess I didn’t think of that,” Keith says, feeling guilty.

“Just give him some space, Keith,” Pidge tells him. “He’ll come around.”

For a few tics, neither of them talk as Pidge completes the calibrations and scans.

Pidge looks up at Keith briefly before speaking again.

“Hey, can I ask you something?”

“I’m listening,” Keith tells her.

“On Rada... you said the Garrison set you up so that you’d get expelled,” Pidge says. “What did you mean by that? Set you up how?”

Keith looks at her out of the corner of his eye for a moment before sighing.

“You remember how my temper used to be?” he asks her.

Pidge nods.

“My instructor put me in a position he knew would trigger my temper to the point where I would punch someone and get myself expelled,” Keith explains bitterly. “It worked, but not in the way he thought it would. I don’t remember much; just the simulation starting, the terrain loading, and then my vision went red. Next thing I knew my fists were bloody and I’d destroyed a simulator. When my instructor got in my face afterward, I decked him. When Iverson yelled at me for both, I decked him too. That and destroying the simulator got me expelled.”

“You punched Iverson?!” Pidge asks gleefully.

Keith raises an eyebrow at Pidge.

“I know he’s apologized for how he treated me after Kerberos and I do forgive him for it,” Pidge says, “But I’m not going to pretend I don’t find the idea that someone punched him back then so quiznaking satisfying.”

Keith gives her a side smile as her computer starts beeping.

“You’re all done!” Pidge tells him.

“Thanks again, Pidge,” Keith tells her before leaving.

Pidge waits until Keith is gone before looking at the results of her tests.

“What the…” she says in confusion while looking at one of the scans.

She switches to a second one and gasps in horror.

“Oh my God!”

She tearfully loads the results onto a datapad and runs to show the others.

She finds Allura, Hunk, and Lance on the Paladin’s personal training deck.

The minute they see the look on Pidge’s face, they all stop and run to her.

“Pidge, what’s wrong?” Hunk asks.

“Lance was right! Something’s wrong with Keith!”

She then shows them the results from the tests she ran.

All three of them gasp in horror.

“Is this what I think it is, Pidge?” Allura asks her seriously.

Pidge nods.

“I also found this!” Pidge says switching to a different scan.

The four of them all look at each other.

“We need to tell Shiro.” Lance states firmly. “Now.”

"There is still time to act!" Allura tells them. "I can help him but we  **must** hurry."

Pidge dries her eyes quickly as the four of them nod in agreement before heading off to find Shiro.

~

Shiro looks up from the desk in his office when they come in. He stands with a frown when he sees their expressions.

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Shiro, there’s something you need to see…” Lance begins.

Before they can say anything however, Romelle and Curtis come running into Shiro’s office.

“We just received a distress call from a nearby planet that has been taken over by a rogue Galra still loyal to Lotor and Honerva,” Curtis says.

“They have a space station in orbit and there are reports of an Altean from my colony on it!” Romelle exclaims excitedly.

Shiro and Allura both straighten up.

“Are you sure?” they ask at the same time.

“Affirmative,” Curtis says. “I just received confirmation.”

“Greg, call an emergency briefing in 15 doboshes,” Shiro tells him.

“Right away, sir,” Curtis says with a salute before leaving without correcting him.

Curtis gives Veronica the message before heading back to his quarters.

He closes and locks the door securely. He turns toward the room and faces a man who looks just like him that is unconscious and tied to a chair with a gag in his mouth.

“Curtis” quickly grows shorter and his skin gets paler as he drops his disguise. When he’s done, he’s an Altean with the same brown hair and blue eyes as the real Curtis but with fairer skin and orange cheek marks.

“Empress Honerva? Phase one of Operation Aka is complete. Proceeding with Phase two.”


	9. Aka

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Coalition plans to liberate Trapus 30 and its people in addition to rescuing an Altean that is reported to be on the space station in orbit around it. However, Keith suspects not everything is as it seems.

Shiro stands before a briefing room full of Garrison and Coalition members.

“Rebel Intel just confirmed a Galra space station in orbit around a planet known as Trapus D. They also confirmed that the people down on Trapus D have been taken over by a rogue Galra still loyal to the Empire.”

“The Galra in charge is a Galra by the name of Morvok,” Pidge tells them. “We’ve had a run in with him before. He’s dangerous, but he’s mostly a wimp and not exactly the sharpest knife in the drawer. He likely took the planet just to get favor with Lotor or Honerva.”

“What about the Altean?” Romelle asks anxiously. “We are going to save them right?”

“We will free them, Romelle,” Allura assures her.

“We’ll need three groups; one to focus on liberating the planet, one to infiltrate the space station and rescue the Altean, and one to cause a distraction and provide cover so both groups can work,” Shiro says. “We’ll wormhole in near the planet's furthest moon and attack when the space station is on the night side of the planet. The Atlas will provide the cover as well as a distraction. MFE’s, you’ll be helping us provide the distraction."

“Roger, that,” Griffin says.

"Rebels, you guys take out the space station’s sensors and then focus on liberating the planet.”

“Understood!” Matt tells him.

“The Paladins can assist us in providing a distraction with either Voltron or the Lions.”

"Understood," Allura affirms. “Now we just need someone to infiltrate the space station.”

As they plan the attack, Shiro glances to his left curiously.

Throughout the meeting, Keith’s been oddly quiet as he reads through the Intel on this mission with a frown. After a while, Keith sits back in his chair with a hand pressed thoughtfully to his mouth.

“I have a question,” Keith finally states with a hand raised before calmly leaning forward on the table. “Do we have _actual_ **visual** confirmation that there is _actually_ an Altean **on** the space station?”

“Affirmative,” Curtis tells him. “Confirmed it this morning.”

“Ok, then here’s my next question.”

Keith crosses his arms on top of the table before continuing.

“Why would a **Galra** space station have one of _Honerva’s_ Alteans on it? Also, why would Morvok even **know** about the Alteans in the first place? Honerva _completely_ abandoned the Galra Empire in favor of the Alteans and Lotor made it very clear when we fought him in the quintessence field that he wanted nothing to do with the Galra Empire. With the exception of Sendak, who was already Honerva’s lackey long before she found the Alteans, I honestly can’t see _either_ of them working with what's left of the Galra Empire. Not to mention, Morvok is a bully and a brown-noser, but he's no conqueror and as Pidge pointed out, Morvok isn't that smart. **How** did he invade this planet in the first place?”

“Maybe Morvok is trying to impress Lotor or something,” Hunk suggests.

“That does sound like something Morvok would do,” Krolia points out to Keith.

Shiro can tell Keith isn’t really convinced.

“It just seems a little too con…”

Keith trails off as the door opens and Kolivan enters the room, getting everyone’s attention.

"...-venient."

“Forgive my interruption Captain Shirogane, but I must speak with Commander Kogane and Senior Blade Krolia regarding an urgent matter that cannot wait,” Kolivan tells them calmly.

Shiro is struck by the resemblance between Keith and his mother as they both frown and stand from their seats next to one another to walk over to Kolivan.

“This will only take a moment,” Keith tells Shiro as he walks past him.

“Code 5P1,” Kolivan tells them quietly.

Keith and Krolia’s eyes widen.

“Are you certain?” Krolia asks quietly with a frown.

“My informant just confirmed it,” Kolivan states. “We don't know when it happened…”

“Do we know how many?” Keith whispers.

“Just one,” Kolivan says.

“Do we know who?” Keith asks.

“No.”

Keith and Krolia look at one another for a moment before nodding.

“Thank you, Kolivan,” Krolia tells him.

“Nevermind,” Keith says nonchalantly as they walk back to their seats as Kolivan leaves the room. “I just got my answer.”

“Care to enlighten us?” Shiro asks with a raised eyebrow.

“We just received word that one of our Blades somehow avoided detection and is on that space station with Morvok,” Krolia tells them. “While out on patrol for Morvok, they encountered one of the Altean mechs. They used Intel Kolivan passed onto them to disable the robeast and free the Altean without hurting them. They likely convinced Morvok to keep the Altean to earn brownie points with Honerva and Lotor. The missive likely came from them.”

“Since it is a Blade of Marmora agent who saved them and a Galra space station, perhaps they should be the ones to rescue the Altean since they can get in and out easier,” Curtis suggests.

Keith and Krolia both eye him for a moment without looking at him.

“I was actually going to suggest that anyway,” Keith remarks calmly. “Krolia, Kolivan, and I will use Kosmo to get into the Space Station to retrieve the Altean.”

“Keith, if you go with them, the Paladins won’t be able to form Voltron,” Shiro points out with a frown.

“Actually,” Curtis interjects. “Since the Paladins are helping Atlas provide a distraction, Voltron should not be necessary for this. We just need the Lions.”

“That’s… true…” Shiro admits reluctantly.

“Kosmo is the best way we can get in and out undetected and he’ll only go if I go too.”

Keith gives Shiro a look.

“I’m going with them.”

Shiro closes his eyes for a moment to compose himself.

He knows the look on Keith’s face. There’s nothing he can say to convince Keith otherwise and he knows it.

“Alright. You, Kolivan, and Krolia will go after the Altean.”

“My Lion has stealth capabilities,” Pidge offers. “I can get you all close enough to the ship to teleport in. When you need me to pick you up, just say the word.”

“If Keith’s going with the Blades, who’s going to lead the Paladins?” Lance asks.

“You will,” Keith answers without hesitation while looking at said Paladin across the table. “Paladins; support Lance and do what he says.”

“Understood.”

“Alright,” Shiro says. “We start the attack at 800 hours tomorrow so everyone, get some sleep. We’re going to need it.”

~

The following morning as everyone gets prepared, Keith pulls Acxa aside.

“I need a favor,” Keith tells her. “Here’s my access card; It’ll open any door on the ship.”

Keith hands her said card before continuing.

“I need you to check on something for me. Someone on this ship isn’t who we think they are and I’m pretty sure I know who. I need to know there’s someone here I can trust to protect Shiro and Romelle in case my suspicions prove true.”

“I will do this,” Acxa promises him.

Keith gives her a side smile.

“Thanks. When the attack begins, check the living quarters for what’s his name that sits to Shiro’s right on the bridge.”

“What _is_ his name?” Acxa asks genuinely.

“I dunno, Chris?” Keith guesses. “It’s something that starts with C. Anyway, his quarters are on the same level as yours. Two rooms down from the main lounge on the right.”

Acxa raises an eyebrow at Keith.

“What?” Keith asks defensively.

“I said nothing,” Acxa tells him in a tone no one but Keith would recognize as teasing.

~

Lance is heading for the Lion hanger when he’s suddenly grabbed and pulled into a nearby storage room.

“Hey! What the… Keith?!”

Lance turns and sees Keith in his Blade of Marmora uniform with Kosmo.

“Shhh... There isn’t much time,” Keith tells him.

Lance blinks back at him a moment.

15 doboshes later, Lance casually leaves the storage room for the Lion Hanger.

Keith sighs and turns to Kosmo.

“One more stop, boy.”

A tic later they disappear.

~

Shiro is standing at the desk in his office with his back to the door about to leave for the bridge when he hears a BOOF! sound behind him.

He turns and sees Keith in his Blade uniform leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed, Kosmo at his side.

“Keith! Shouldn’t you two be preparing to head out?” Shiro asks him as he straightens up.

“We’re heading down there now,” Keith tells him softly. “I just…”

He looks down at the floor for a moment.

“I had to see you one last time…”

He looks up at Shiro and steps out into the hall then.

“Come on… I’ll walk you to the bridge.”

Shiro notices something's off with Keith as they walk in silence.

“Keith, are you ok?” Shiro asks genuinely as they get in the lift. “You seem… calmer… than you usually are before a battle…”

“I’m fine. I’m only calm on the outside…”

“I guess that makes sense...”

Shiro looks down at his feet as the lift doors close and it goes up.

Shiro takes a deep breath before looking back at the younger man beside him.

“Keith, listen. About my avoiding you…”

Keith stops him.

“It’s ok, Shiro. You don’t have to say anything…” he says calmly as he looks up at him. “I know you have your reasons… I'm sorry I was pushing so hard for you to tell me…”

Shiro winces at Keith's apology.

“Still, I’m sorry its’ put tension between us … I promise, when I feel up to it, I’ll tell you.”

Keith doesn’t say anything back as the lift reaches the bridge.

He pulls Shiro into one of their hugs and when Shiro hugs him back he notices that Keith is hugging him a little tighter and longer than usual.

After a few tics, Keith takes a step back.

“I should get down there.”

“We’ll talk after the fight,” Shiro tells him as he heads onto the bridge.

As the lift doors close, Keith whispers.

“Good-bye, Shiro.”

~

As Shiro takes his post on the bridge, he addresses the bridge crew with Romelle standing to his left (brought in by Coran no doubt).

“Alright, everyone knows the plan!”

“Rebels have already taken out the stations’ sensors and are awaiting our distraction,” Veronica states.

“Let’s make our presence known then,” Shiro says. “Launch MFEs!”

“Locked onto some of the station’s defense satellites,” Iverson says.

“Fire!”

The Atlas’ cannons take out several defense satellites surrounding the space station. The station quickly dispatches fighters and drones.

The MFE’s immediately engage the fighters.

“Paladins, let’s take out the rest of the defense satellites before giving the MFEs a hand!” Lance tells Allura, Pidge, and Hunk.

“Copy!”

Using their Lions’ hidden powers, the Paladins make short work of the rest of the satellites.

“Rebels have begun liberating the planet,” Veronica states.

The Green Lion quickly cloaks and moves closer to the space station so Keith, Krolia, and Kolivan can teleport in with Kosmo.

“Alright, we’re in,” Keith tells the Atlas. “Coast is clear. Beginning retrieval.”

~

On the Atlas while the attack is underway, Acxa quickly walks to the room Keith spoke of and uses the access card to open the door.

When the door opens, she takes two steps inside and finds the real Curtis; still unconscious and tied to the chair.

She turns on her heel and heads straight for the lift up to the bridge as she puts two and two together, stopping Dr. Holt on the way to go tend the real Curtis.

~

Keith’s group is making their way through the space station when they’re attacked by some sentries. They quickly fight back.

~

Down on the planet’s surface, Matt frowns as they tend to the planet’s citizens after liberating them.

Something isn’t right.

“Hey Atlas?” Matt coms up to the Atlas’ bridge.

~

As they’re fighting, three Galra soldiers join the fray. Keith, Krolia, and Kolivan fight them.

~

“Matt, what’s the Rebels’ status?” Shiro asks.

“That’s actually why I’m contacting you.”

Matt looks back at the rest of the Rebels treating the planet’s citizens.

“We just _finished_ liberating the planet.”

Matt looks up at the sky before continuing.

“Shiro, this was way too easy.”

~

Keith takes one of them out and quickly jumps into Krolia’s fight.

~

“I’m with Matt, Shiro,” Pidge remarks tensely as she takes out a fighter, having heard the entire exchange over the coms.

“Dude, same," Hunk agrees. "I mean, I’m all for easy wins; but this is ridiculous.”

~

Keith and Krolia tag team against one of the soldiers while Kolivan fights the other one by himself.

~

Another com comes in then, this time from somewhere within the Atlas.

“There’s a spy on the bridge!”

Exposed, “Curtis” stands then and points a gun at Romelle.

“Die, Traitor!”

Shiro reaches for his gun and Romelle ducks behind Shiro’s post as the imposter fires a shot. It hits said post right before the imposter is taken out by a shot to the shoulder.

~

Kolivan takes down his opponent as Keith and Krolia tag team theirs.

~

Shiro and Romelle look toward the door where the shot came from and see Acxa standing there with her gun raised, barrel still smoking.

“Nice shot!” Veronica compliments her.

Shiro looks at Acxa as Romelle approaches the imposter.

“Not that I’m complaining but how’d you get in here? You don’t have a key card,” Shiro asks in confusion. “Though I think that will be changing after today.”

Acxa holds up a card Shiro immediately recognizes as Keith’s access card.

“Keith had suspicions there was someone on the ship who could not be trusted. I confirmed his suspicions,” Acxa explains.

Before anyone could respond, the imposter starts to laugh as he morphs back into his true form.

“An Altean!?” Coran exclaims.

Romelle recognizes him.

“Rafron…”

“You have stopped nothing! I am merely the lookout! Operation Aka will go into phase three at any...”

Just like with Luca, Rafron suddenly gasps before dropping to the floor dead.

“Aka?” Veronica asks puzzled.

“Does that mean anything in Altean?” Iverson asks.

“It’s not Altean,” Shiro tells him in confusion. “It’s Japanese. Honerva must have picked it up from me while I was Zarkon’s prisoner because this is the second time she’s used a Japanese word for the name of one of her plans. The last one was Kuron, which is Japanese for ‘clone’.”

“The Shiro clone!” Coran exclaims. “What does Aka mean?”

“That’s just it,” Shiro tells him, crossing his arms over his chest in confusion. “It’s literally the Japanese word for the color red.”

 **KABOOM!**

An explosion blows out the side of the space station and rocks the Atlas.

Shiro looks out as an enormous ball of fire emanates from the middle of the space station.

Matt and everyone on the ground looks up at the sky.

“Atlas? Guys? We heard an explosion. What happened?” Matt asks.

For a few tiks, no one can respond to him as everyone both on the Bridge and in the space around it stares in horror.

Shiro’s blood freezes and he feels like his lungs aren’t working right as he connects the dots.

‘Red’

Honerva doesn’t call Keith the Black Paladin. She still calls him the Red Paladin.

There was no Altean. It was a trap.

A trap for Keith.

“K..Keith... Keith, come in!” Shiro says desperately as he tries to remember how to breathe.

“Oh no…” Lance mutters.

Lance and the other Paladins immediately start trying to reach Keith along with Shiro.

“Keith… Keith, are you there?!”

“Damn it, Mullet, come in!”

“Come on, man! Please tell us you’re ok!”

“Keith, if you can hear us please respond!”

Static.

“Keith isn’t responding,” Lance says over the com. “Shiro, keep trying to reach him! The Paladins and I are going to investigate.”

“Roger that! MFE’s, let’s give them cover,” Griffin says.

“Keith! Keith, please answer me!”

Static.

The four Lions fly toward the space station. Allura puts out the flames with Blue before they maneuver their Lions just outside the blown out side of the Space Station.

“Pidge, can you find Keith’s signal?” Lance asks her.

“Not really. The suits the Blades use are designed to be undetectable. However I _am_ able to locate Kosmo's signature,” Pidge says.

“Good enough,” Lance says. “Let’s move.”

They leave their Lions near the hole and jetpack into the space station.

“Sir, the number of biorhythms inside the base is slowly but steadily decreasing,” Veronica observes.

Shiro just nods numbly as he continues his attempts.

“Keith…” Shiro whispers on a shaky breath. “Keith, please... please respond…”

Lance and the other Paladins follow Kosmo’s signature to a large room where they find Krolia, Kolivan, and Kosmo’s bodies lying on the ground.

“Oh my God! Are they dead?!” Hunk asks as they run to them.

“No.” Pidge tells him as she checks them. “No, they’re alive! Barely, but alive.”

“That blast would have killed a human!” Hunk states.

“Good thing none of them were completely human,” Lance states.

“There is one person I do not see,” Allura points out. “Where is Keith?”

“Guys…”

The others move to where Hunk is standing near Krolia and look where he’s pointing.

There’s an odd discoloring of the floor in the shape of a person beside Krolia, who looks like she's been moved as well.

“When the explosion started, Krolia must have protected Keith with her body,” Allura observes.

“So Keith _was_ here,” Lance adds.

“Then… where is he?” Hunk asks.

Pidge spots something on the floor near Krolia. She looks closer and immediately recognizes it.

“Keith’s knife…” she says as she picks it up.

“Keith would no sooner part with it than with his head!” Allura states fearfully.

“Guys, if we don’t get these three back to the Atlas soon, they’re gonna die,” Hunk tells them.

“Shiro! Can you hear me?” Lance says into the coms.

“Lance! Please tell me you’ve found him!” Shiro pleads.

“I wish I could, Shiro,” Lance tells him solemnly. “We’ve found Krolia, Kolivan, and Kosmo, but no Keith. The good news is, he’s alive. The bad news is, we don’t know where and we can’t keep looking for him. We have to get these three medical attention fast.”

Shiro takes a breath. It isn’t much, but it’s something.

“Alright…get them back to the Atlas.”

Shiro looks worriedly up at the space station.

“Come on, Keith…”

Hunk takes Kolivan, Allura takes Krolia, and Lance takes Kosmo while Pidge takes point and watches their backs.

All four Paladins manage to return to their Lion’s and then the Atlas where the med crew is waiting in the hangar.

The four Paladins run straight to the bridge and stand around Shiro’s post.

“Anything?” Allura asks.

Before Shiro can answer.

“Sir! I have a visual on the Voltron Leader!”

“On screen!” all five of them say together.

The viewscreen opens showing Keith walking through the doors of the space station onto the platform holding a sword he stole from another soldier.

“Something’s wrong.” Shiro says the moment he sees him. “Zoom in and enhance the image!”

Everyone gasps at the sight of Keith.

His Galra features are showing and the look on his face is one of pure unbridled rage.

As a wave of armed sentries and soldiers descends upon him, Keith lets out a cry of rage as he begins slicing through them effortlessly in a matter of seconds. Several shots hit Keith from behind. He turns and sees the two soldiers with guns firing at him. He grits his teeth, showing his fangs as he grabs a sentry he’s already destroyed to use as a shield before using the sentry’s gun that’s still attached to its arm to shoot both of them. He then turns and uses the same gun on several other soldiers running at him.

They’d be impressed if it weren’t unnerving.

“I’ve never seen Number 4 behave in such a way,” Coran says in awe.

“Neither have I,” all four Paladins say.

“I have…” Iverson says grimly. “He didn’t turn into a purple cat thing but the rage was the same.”

Shiro is too stunned to speak.

“Sir, I just did a complete scan of the space station,” Veronica says, her voice quivering. “There are zero biorhythms in the space station. Everyone alive is currently on the platform with him.”

Everyone’s mouths drop at the implication.

“Keith killed everyone in the space station in a matter of minutes!” Pidge states the obvious.

“But why?! Why is he like this?” Allura asks.

“He thinks he has nothing left to lose," Iverson tells them plainly. "He thinks Krolia, Kolivan, and Kosmo are dead.”

“But they’re not!” Lance says.

“How much do you wanna bet Keith doesn’t know that?”

Pidge looks tearfully at the others as she continues.

“Remember how Krolia looked like she was turned over. I think Keith must have come to, saw the condition they were in, assumed they were all dead, and just _completely_ **lost** **it**.”

Allura looks up at the screen in sympathy.

“Keith’s mother is the only family he has left and Kolivan has been like a father to him since he learned he was part Galra…”

“On top of that, he thinks they killed his dog, so to speak,” Hunk states sadly.

Shiro listens to the conversation but his eyes are on Keith as he watches him mow down another wave of sentries and soldiers. It might seem effortless, but Shiro can see the hits Keith’s taking as well as the injuries from hits he already took during the course of his rampage. Plus, Krolia may have protected Keith from the brunt of the blast, but Shiro can tell he still sustained injuries from the explosion.

An energy whip wraps around Keith’s torso and arms that he quickly throws it off. Two more wrap around him but he's able to pull free again. It isn't until he has four wrapped around him that they finally manage to halt his rampage.

Keith fights against the restraints before a stream of energy that looks like lightning runs down both whips and shocks him. Keith cries out in pain as it courses through his body before several soldiers pinned him to the ground.

“Can’t we fire something to help him?!” Lance asks Iverson in a panic.

“I can’t, I might hit Keith!"

“MFE’s?” Lance tries into the coms.

 _“Negative. We’re all still dealing with the fighters.”_ Griffin answers.

“Damn it!”

They can do nothing but watch as Morvok approaches Keith.

“Isn’t this my lucky day…” Morvok brags. “When Emperor Lotor asked me to monitor this planet and space station he captured, I had assumed it would be a boring task. Who would have thought the Voltron Leader would be foolish enough to pay me a visit? I wonder what rewards I will get for handing you over to him. Did you honestly think you would leave here alive?”

Shiro’s stomach drops when Keith smirks as he says.

“Nope…”

Several more explosions rock the space station in the space station’s central core. 

These ones planted by Keith.

The explosions distract Morvok and his remaining soldiers enough that they loosen their hold on Keith.

With a battle cry that somehow crushes Shiro’s heart, Keith uses the distraction to grab a pair of nearby swords and shoves one clean through Morvok’s chest. He then turns with the remaining sword and makes short work of the last of Morvok’s sentries and soldiers.

Rage spent, Keith drops the sword as he stumbles backward and finally falls from exhaustion and his injuries. 

Breathing heavily, he looks up at the Atlas from where he fell as the space station burns around him.

Everyone on the bridge looks at Shiro as it seems like Keith is somehow looking directly at him.

A tear rolls down Shiro’s face as he looks back.

“No… Please, no..."

Keith's eyes close but before anyone can even make the call to send someone for him, more explosions go off, causing the platform to break away from the rest.

More tears roll down his Shiro’s face as he feels his heart shatter.

"NO!"

A sudden roar cuts Shiro off as it echoes through the ship. A tic later, a BOOM! is felt. At first they’re relieved thinking it’s the Black Lion going to get him.

That’s not what happens.

“Is that the Red Lion?!” Veronica asks as said Lion swoops into view.

“Red _was_ originally Keith’s Lion,” Lance says.

“No. No, something is wrong,” Allura says.

As if on cue, the Red Lion turns toward them and fires on the Atlas. While everyone is reeling from the attack, no one sees Red scoop up Keith.

“Red’s eyes! They’re…”

“Purple.”

They watch as one of Honerva’s wormholes opens up and Red goes through it.

Shiro drops to his knees at his post with tear tracks down his face, staring at the view-screen in shock as the wormhole closes.


	10. Seeing Red, Part 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reeling from the loss of Keith and the corruption of the Red Lion, the coalition decides what to do. Shiro is determined to rescue Keith; no matter what it takes.

The Paladins and Shiro are all scattered around different places in their private lounge.

The rest of the crew has left them alone and for that they’re all grateful.

Hunk is standing at the counter of the snack bar but isn’t cooking, Pidge is sitting on the couch hugging her knees to her chest, Lance is leaning against the back of the couch, Allura is leaning against the wall by the lift, and Shiro is sitting on the floor against the wall between his and Keith’s quarters with his knees up and his head in his arms.

“I can’t believe that just happened…” Lance says for about the millionth time.

“I’m still not even sure what happened,” Hunk states. “ _How_ was Honerva able to corrupt the Red Lion?”

“She must have done it while she was still Haggar,” Pidge says in tears. “Who knows how long they had the Red Lion before we stole it from them.”

“I can’t believe Keith’s dead,” Hunk states sadly.

“He isn’t dead…” Shiro mutters with his head still in his arms.

“It always seemed as though Keith was invincible,” Allura states. “It's hard to believe he's gone…”

“He _isn’t_ **dead**.” Shiro states a little louder as he picks his head up a little.

“What are we going to do now?” Pidge asks. “Keith was our leader and now he’s gone. What are we going to do without him?”

Shiro grits his teeth and slams his fist into the wall beside him, making everyone in the room jump.

“He’s not dead, damn it!” Shiro yells without looking up. “Stop talking like he is!” 

His anger evaporates as quickly as it came.

“He can’t be dead…” Shiro whispers.

He curls into himself once more.

“He can’t be…”

The others look at each other for a moment.

A tic later, Shiro feels four sets of arms wrap around him as the others join him on the floor.

For several tics, no one speaks as they huddle together.

Then Shiro remembers something and picks his head up.

“What was it you guys were trying to tell me before?” he asks them. 

Shiro feels his stomach drop when they look at each other.

“What?”

“We… weren’t going to show you this now…” Pidge admits with a sniffle as she rubs her red rimmed eyes. “It involves Keith.”

Shiro takes in a deep breath and then releases it.

“Tell me anyway.”

Pidge leaves to go get a data pad from her room while the others explain.

“Over the past movement, we’ve been noticing that something wasn’t right with Keith,” Hunk tells him as he helps Shiro up.

“He has been complaining of headaches, dizzy spells,” Allura adds as they all move to the couch.

“He fainted a few times, got short of breath for stupid stuff like walking and talking, he was tired more,” Lance continues. “But what really tipped me off that something was wrong was an incident that happened after a briefing one day.”

“What happened?” Shiro asks as he remembers the day he saw Lance helping Keith to the lift after a briefing.

“He actually looked like he was about to just drop dead any second,” Lance explains. “He brushed it off, but I got a bad feeling about it… so I mentioned it to the others.”

“We had Pidge discretely scan Keith while he was picking up the upgrade for his armor,” Allura tells him as Pidge returns.

“When I scanned him I found this.”

Pidge hands Shiro the data pad and he sees a scan of Keith’s physical body.

“The frequent headaches for the most part are genuinely being caused by the concussion Keith got from the robeast explosion. He’ll likely have those the rest of his life,” Pidge states. “That being said, the cause of the rest of it has likely been making them worse.”

Shiro stares at the scan.

“His heart… and his lungs…” Shiro says, his eyes immediately centering on it. “Why are they turning black?!”

Shiro looks up at Pidge.

“And why didn’t the cryopod detect and fix it?”

Pidge takes the data pad back to switch to the results of the second scan.

“When Coran mentioned that Honerva and Zarkon’s quintessence was corrupted, I created a kind of medical scan that specifically looks at the quintessence within a person and scanned everyone on the team with it. That’s why the cryopod didn’t detect it; because I honestly didn't think to install the program. As for his heart and lungs, well… the actual organs _themselves_ are fine. It’s hard to explain but it's the quintessence _inside_ his heart and lungs that's turning them black, not the tissue itself. A normal physical exam on those organs would produce nothing. The pod literally didn't know to look for it.”

She moves to sit beside Shiro so he can see.

“These are what ours look like…”

She shows him images of each of them with a colored energy swirling inside them. Pidge’s is green, Hunk’s is yellow, Lance’s is blue, Shiro’s is purple, and Allura’s is pink with whitish blue streaks like the glow of Shiro’s prosthetic.

“Now I first created this right before Keith started spending more time with the Blades of Marmora. When we learned the Shiro I scanned was a clone, I scanned you a second time, but everything was the same. This is what Keith’s looked like then.”

Pidge shows him an image of Keith with red swirling energy.

“Well… when he dropped by to get his armor upgrade, I scanned him again and…”

Shiro gasps in horror and stands with the data pad the minute Pidge shows him the next scan.

Where once Keith’s quintessence was swirling red energy, now it’s slowly turning into swirling black energy.

“Keith’s quintessence is becoming corrupt and it's poisoning his heart and lungs.”

“H… he’s dying?” Shiro asks in fear.

Pidge nods sadly.

“There is… something else that should probably be brought to your attention as well while we are on the subject of Keith,” Allura tells him hesitantly.

“What?” Shiro asks with a pained sigh.

What else happened while he was stupidly avoiding Keith?

“A number of the Garrison crew members have been giving Keith a hard time ever since Keith was outed to the rest of the Atlas crew that he’s part Galra,” Hunk tells him.

“Cadets, officers, even admirals have refused to respect his authority and even mocked him for it on more than one occasion,” Lance tells him.

“A couple even went so far as to insinuate he basically whored himself out to you to get his promotion to second-in-command,” Pidge adds.

“It’s the “charity case” bullshit from the Garrison really,” Lance comments.

Shiro looks at them.

“He’s been getting bullied again?”

The moment they all nod Shiro feels guilt shoot down his spine like cold lightning.

“I still can’t believe how much damage Keith did to that space station in such a short amount of time,” Lance remarks.

“Seriously, I’ve never seen Keith like that!” Hunk adds.

“We have,” Griffin tells them as he and Iverson join them in their lounge.

“What are you two doing here?” Lance asks as they all look at them.

Iverson and Griffin look at each other a moment.

“Given… recent events… we feel it’s only right that you learn the reason behind Keith's expulsion from the Garrison,” Iverson tells Shiro.

Pidge stands to face Iverson and glares.

“Keith told me it was because you and the rest of Garrison Command set him up.”

“That he was,” Iverson confirms.

Griffin looks at Shiro.

“You should know, the minute you were presumed dead, the **entire** Garrison higher command turned on Keith like a pack of rabid dogs on a three legged cat. Once you were gone, they saw no reason to even _pretend_ they wanted to keep him there. Keith didn’t care though. The only thing he cared about was the “pilot error” explanation the Garrison gave to explain the disappearance.”

“Like Miss Holt here, Keith never bought into the “pilot error” explanation,” Iverson tells Shiro.

“But not because it didn’t make sense…at least not entirely… but mostly because it was ruining your reputation,” Griffin explains. “Both cadets and officers alike were talking about how your insistence on going on the mission, despite your disease, got everyone killed, and Keith hated it. He passionately defended you to everyone who dared to say it in his presence. He swore you weren’t dead. Insisted, something else _must_ have happened; that you were an amazing pilot who would never endanger his crew, but no one believed him.”

“Command, apart from never liking him to begin with, realized Keith was a threat; that he’d eventually uncover the truth whether they liked it or not. So, they sought to have him expelled,” Iverson explains. “Problem was, they couldn’t just expel Keith because they didn’t like him. Keith had been quickly becoming Garrison's new Golden Boy; a student in good standing at the Garrison, one of the top 5 students in grades who broke all of your records and was an ace fighter pilot. He had also been actively trying to behave better prior to the disappearance.”

“So you set him up to get himself expelled,” Shiro fills in angrily.

“They called Keith and me down to perform a demo for some of the other cadets,” Griffin begins. “It was a new simulation that we’d never flown before.”

Griffin glares at Iverson.

“That was the point though.”

“What was the scenario?” Shiro asks.

It’s Lance who answers as he realizes.

“The Kerberos Rescue simulation.”

Pidge and Hunk gasp too as they connect the dots.

“The what?” Allura asks.

“The last training exercise the three of us did in a simulator before all this…” Hunk gestures to Allura and then the ship. “Happened.”

“I didn’t realize before but that simulation appeared right around the time we stopped seeing Keith around the barracks,” Lance states. "It was also around the time I was promoted to Fighter Pilot."

“The intention,” Iverson continues, “was to make him start an argument about it, throw a punch or two at the instructor, and then we’d expel him for insubordination and fighting and that’d be that.”

“But that’s not what happened, was it?” Pidge growls. “It didn’t just piss him off; it sent him into a blind rage.”

“Ok, Iverson and Griffin I can understand knowing this because they were there, but how do you know all of this, Pidge?” Shiro asks her.

“I asked him,” Pidge says simply.

“So did I,” Shiro says in confusion.

“Yeah… well… I’m not the one whose honor Keith was defending…” Pidge points out to him. “Plus, I think Keith trusted me with it out of solidarity since it seems like we were the _only_ ones who actively and aggressively questioned the “pilot error” explanation for Kerberos.”

“His rage was a lot like what you saw at the space station,” Griffin states. “He didn’t kill anyone, it wasn’t as extensive, and like Iverson said before he didn’t turn into a purple cat alien, but he did an insane, and mildly impressive, amount of property damage in a very short amount of time when he destroyed the simulator. Then Instructor Weiss…”

Shiro feels like he’s been slapped.

“Wait… Weiss… Adam was involved in this?!”

Iverson looks at him.

“It was his class… _and_ his idea…”

“Son of a Space Wolf!”

Shiro jumps to his feet and starts pacing the room like a caged panther before turning back to them.

“Why?!”

“Apparently Keith and Adam had a number of… verbal altercations…after Kerberos’ disappearance was declared “pilot error”,” Iverson tells him.

“Instructor Weiss accepted the whole “pilot error” bullshit. Keith pretty much felt his acceptance was like he was saying he never had faith in your abilities,” Griffin states. “He not only accepted it but he blamed Keith for supporting and enabling it. Keith of course would yell back, more out of defense for you than anything.”

“So what happened then?” Lance asks.

“Well, Adam and I pulled Keith from what was left of the simulator,” Iverson continues.

“He looked like he was coming out of his rage at that point,” Griffin adds.

“Keith told me he punched you and the other guy,” Pidge says.

“Yeah… Instructor Weiss told Keith to his face that allowing a hotheaded, discipline case like him to be enrolled was a mistake and that it was Keith’s fault you died on the Kerberos Mission,” Griffin tells them. “At which point, Keith decked him for it.”

“Then I made the mistake of telling him he was shaping up to be a failure like you to his face and I guess he figured he was already in trouble so why not punch me too while he’s at it,” Iverson adds.

“Honestly, he was more pissed you called _Shiro_ a failure than him,” Griffin tells Iverson.

“You both deserved far worse than a punch in the face in my opinion!” Shiro growls at Iverson with his fists clenched at his side. “You set up a 17 year old boy who only wanted to find his place in the world to not only lose the only source of income he had but also the only thing that was giving him a future! You know as well as I do that getting expelled from the Garrison is a death sentence in terms of employment! He would have never been hired anywhere! Had things not worked out the way they did, you realize you were basically condemning him to either a life of crime or to die of starvation, right?!”

“A fact that occurred to me later and will haunt me for the rest of my days,” Iverson admits sincerely.

“Was that before or after he was proven right?!”

“What’s done is done, Shiro,” Lance tells him.

“No!” Shiro yells. “No, I’ve been itching to have this conversation since the moment Keith told me he was booted from the Garrison because it seems like the only reason Keith had been admitted in the first place was... me…”

It hits Shiro then that he is as much to blame for Keith getting expelled as Iverson and Adam. He may not have played a part in the set up, but he should have known this would happen the second he was gone.

Before Kerberos, Shiro was literally the only one at the Garrison who wanted Keith there. He should have known that the second he couldn’t protect him, the second he was gone; they’d kick him out. Of course they would. Even if it hadn’t been Kerberos, it would have been Shiro dying from his disease.

Just another way Shiro failed him to add to the quickly growing stack.

How deep do Shiro’s sins go; he's starting to wonder. Just how much has Shiro failed him?

Shiro feels a hand on his drooping shoulders and looks up to see Allura.

“You must not blame yourself, Shiro,” Allura tells him.

“Yeah man,” Hunk agrees. “Keith wouldn’t want you to beat yourself up over this.”

"Of course he wouldn’t," Shiro tells them. "Keith's the most forgiving person in the universe. That doesn’t make everything that happened to him okay".

“Speaking of Keith,” Iverson begins. “We should try to find the Red Lion as soon as possible.”

Iverson turns to Allura.

“The teladav has been converted to the star map when you're ready, Princess.”

“Thank you, Iverson,” Allura says.

“Captain, you’re going to have to appoint a new second-in-command as well,” Iverson remarks.

“I already **have** a second-in-command,” Shiro says testily. “Keith. We just have to find him.”

“Captain Shirogane, he’s gone,” Griffin tells him.

“You guys are hardly in the position to tell me that, considering,” Shiro snaps.

“Shiro, if Keith isn’t dead now, he likely will be by the time we’re able to get to him. You need to accept that,” Pidge tells him.

“ **NO!! HE’S NOT DEAD!! HE’S NOT**!!”

Shiro turns on his heel and runs from the lounge.

The other Paladins move to follow, but Iverson stops them.

“Let him go… he needs time to process this.”

Shiro runs and runs down the hall until he gets to his office where he closes the door behind him.

He stumbles to the opposite wall of his office with the window and presses his back against it. He takes in a shaky breath and slides down the wall until he’s curled in on himself again with his arms curled around his head.

“Keith! Please come back!”

Shiro's voice breaks.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry for everything! Just come back! I'll tell you everything if you just come back!”

Shiro opens his eyes again and looks up when he hears a light knock at his door.

Romelle peaks in.

“Romelle?”

“Might I please come in?” Romelle asks tentatively.

Shiro just shrugs as he looks back at his knees.

Silently, Romelle comes in and sits beside Shiro on the floor against the wall.

For several doboshes they sat on the floor.

“I am... sorry…” Romelle says quietly after a while as she hugs her knees under her chin.

Shiro looks at her in surprise.

“What?”

“What happened to Keith was my fault,” she continues in tears. “If I had not been so gullible… Keith would be...”

Shiro remembers then.

It was Romelle who brought him the missive they now realize the spy had given her.

“Romelle, this isn’t your fault,” Shiro tells her sincerely. “If anyone’s to blame for any of this, it’s me!”

He looks back at the tops of his knees once more.

“If I hadn’t been avoiding Keith, if I’d double checked the details of the mission myself, if I’d been stronger, smarter, a better leader, if I hadn’t taken Keith for granted, if I…”

Shiro stops for a moment to compose himself.

"None of this would have happened if I'd done my job right…” 

Shiro looks back at Romelle. 

“This wasn’t your fault, Romelle. This was mine.”

Romelle leans against Shiro as they sit in silence.

“Did you know I met Keith right after my brother Bandor died…?”

Shiro shakes his head as he looks back at her.

“He has always been kind to me… when I traveled with him to the Castle of Lions… and again when I would travel with him on the way to Earth… he always made me feel safe… I had no one left when I left the colony and if I can be honest I barely had friends. Bandor was always better at making friends than me… I told him such and he told me he knew what that was like. When I told him I feared no one would like me on Earth, he said that if anyone tried to threaten or hurt me, he would “make them disappear”…”

Shiro chuckles a little.

“Yeah, that sounds like something Keith would say…”

“You and he are close?” Romelle asks.

“I… yeah, we were… are… I guess you could say I mentored him for 2 years; give or take a month or two,” Shiro tells her honestly.

He looks at his knees.

“But… what started as a mentorship… turned into a friendship I wouldn’t have traded for anything. Before all of this… I was the Garrison’s star pilot, their hero, their Golden Boy to encourage recruitment. On top of that, I had a terminal illness that was due to kill me before I reached 30. Other than Commander Holt and Matt, Keith was the only other person who treated me like… I wasn’t either some golden boy hero to be worshiped or a sick person who should be kept tucked in a bed with blankets up to their chin tacitly waiting for death to claim him… but a person. With thoughts… and feelings… and ambitions… and wants… and fears… Even when Keith learned about my disease, he didn’t coddle me… didn’t tell me what I should or shouldn’t do… He supported me… encouraged me… wholeheartedly… then after my captivity with the Galra, he was always there for me from the moment I crashed back to Earth… holding me up… helping me wherever I needed… supporting me… saving me… protecting me…”

‘Loving me…’ Shiro thinks.

“Now everyone’s acting like he’s dead... I don’t know how, but I know he’s not…”

“For what it is worth, I do not believe he is dead either,” Romelle tells him as she continues to lean against him.

Shiro looks at her again.

“The others tell me Keith knew you were not dead when everyone believed you were and he turned out to be right. Also Pidge, she knew that her father and brother were not dead, even after everyone claimed they were and she proved to be right as well. If you believe he is alive despite what everyone else believes, then I see nothing to suggest that you might not be right as well.”

Shiro gives her an appreciative smile.

“Thanks, Romelle.”

Romelle gives him a sweet smile before digging around for something in her pocket then.

Shiro gasps when she pulls Keith’s knife out of her pocket and hands it to him.

“I remember Krolia mentioning that a Blade of Marmora’s life force is connected to their blade.”

“Yeah, but the problem is this blade has two different Blades whose life force is connected with it,” Shiro points out. “Krolia’s and Keith’s.”

“I hear Krolia is awake…” Romelle informs him. “Perhaps she will know how to tell Keith's from hers.”

Shiro thanks Romelle again and takes the knife before heading down to med bay.

He finds Colleen sitting beside Krolia’s bed reading a magazine.

“Dr. Holt?”

She looks up and stands when she sees him.

“Shiro, you look dreadful,” she says as she approaches him.

“How is she?” Shiro asks looking down at Krolia.

“She’s resting. She’s hurt pretty bad but she’ll be alright. Galra are sturdy,” Colleen tells him as she looks at Krolia herself.

She looks back at him and puts a hand on his shoulder.

“How are you holding up?”

When Shiro doesn’t answer, Colleen pulls him into an embrace with his face pressed against her shoulder and hugs him tight. Shiro tenses for a moment before hugging her back.

For the first time in a long time, Shiro feels safe. It’s been so long since he felt a mother’s embrace.

Almost on their own accord, his shoulders start to shake as he tightens his grip on Colleen, the first tears slipping down his face. His face slowly crumbles as the first sob slips out. When his legs buckle, Colleen catches him and lowers him to the ground without breaking their embrace as he sobs into her shoulder.

“Shhh…” Colleen soothes him. “It’ll be ok... Everything will work out… We’ll save him, Shiro.”

“You’re only the second person other than me I’ve talked to who isn’t acting like Keith’s dead!”

“If Keith's anything like his mother, he’ll be fine…” she assures him.

“He doesn’t even know she’s alive! He thinks she’s dead! This is all my fault!! If I’d been there, maybe I could have talked him down!”

“ **Or** more likely…” Colleen begins rationally. “The explosion would have killed you… _again_ … and Keith would have truly felt he had nothing to live for.”

“But if I hadn’t been avoiding him, I might have noticed how badly he was getting treated by the Garrison’s higher command or at least that something was wrong with him! If I had just talked to him instead of running away, maybe he wouldn’t have felt like he had nothing left! If I’d done my job right and double checked the source of the information, maybe we could have avoided this whole thing entirely! This is all my fault!! I should have known this could happen! I should have…”

“You can spend all day worrying about the what-ifs and if-onlys and should-haves, but that won’t change what happened,” Colleen tells him. “Maybe you should have known better but that doesn’t change the fact that you _didn’t_ know this was a trap… You’re human, Shiro. You’re allowed to make mistakes."

"Not if the lives of other people are at stake!"

"Shiro, given the information you had at the time, you did what you thought was best. Sometimes all you can do is try your best and hope it’s enough.”

“I can’t do this without him!” Shiro cries desperately. “I can’t lose him! He means everything to me!”

“Why, Shiro?” Colleen asks him. “Why does he mean so much to you?”

“Because…he’s all I have left… ” Shiro begins with a ragged breath. “Because…”

“Because I love him.”

Shiro opens his eyes as he feels a sudden warmth against his back that makes him pull away from Colleen.

He reaches back and pulls Keith’s knife from its sheath and sees it’s starting to flicker a little.

“That blade… is not flickering for me…” comes a voice from the bed next to them.

Shiro wipes his face on his sleeve as he moves to sit in the chair beside Krolia.

“What do you mean?”

“If it were flickering for me… it would be flickering faster… because I am right next to it…” Krolia tells him.

“That means he’s alive!” Shiro says in relief. “He’s alive and now there’s proof!”

Shiro feels a resolve course through him before he takes Krolia’s hand in his own.

“I’m going to save him, Krolia. I promise, I’m going to do everything I can to save him!”

Lance comes into med bay then.

“Romelle said I’d find you here. We’ve located the Red Lion.”

“Good,” Shiro says firmly as he stands.

He smooths out his uniform as he walks to Lance before showing him Keith's knife.

“I have proof Keith is alive and I’m going to find him!”

Lance sees the flickering Blade and nods in agreement.

“Call an emergency briefing!” Shiro tells him.

“I will join you.” Colleen says firmly. “If what you said about the higher command is true, you’re going to need as many people on your side in that room as possible in this.”

~

The Red Lion exits the wormhole and travels to a structure perched on a drifting piece of debris that was once a planet. 

He opens his jaws in front of Honerva so two of the Alteans can retrieve Keith.

“Excellent, my pet,” Honerva tells Red as she pets his nose.

“I must admit I am confused, Mother,” Lotor begins.

“It is simple,” Honerva begins. “When I was still Haggar, I placed a rift creature inside the Red Lion when we had it as an experiment. It gave me the ability to control the Red Lion with a mere thought. I never used it because I was saving it for when I needed it. That time is now.”

She turns to the Alteans holding Keith.

“Bring him to my lab.”

She leans down and tilts Keith’s chin to look at his unconscious face.

“I have much planned for the Red Paladin when he awakens.”

~

Shiro, the remaining Paladins, Romelle, Coran, Iverson, and the rest of the Bridge Crew (save for *actual* Curtis who is still recovering in medbay), the Holts and the Rebels, the MFE pilots, and the several members of the Garrison High Command are assembled in the briefing room.

After a few more minutes for any stragglers, Commander Holt speaks.

“We have to begin,” he says urgently. “Anyone who’s late will just have to be filled in.”

“Princess Allura has located the Red Lion and we now have proof that Commander Kogane is also alive,” Shiro states from his seat at the head of the table. “We need to come up with a plan to retrieve the Red Lion and rescue Commander Kogane.”

“Should we even be bothering with a rescue mission, even if Kogane is alive?” ask a Garrison admiral who Shiro remembers being the one who snubbed Allura when she told them the Lions were not to be given to Sendak.

“I agree. We should be focusing our efforts solely on retrieving the Red Lion,” says a second admiral who Lance recognizes as the other admiral from the hallway that was walking with him.

Shiro narrows his eyes at them.

“Are you serious right now?” Hunk asks indignantly.

“We **all** mourn Kogane's loss…”

“Yeah, I’m sure you’re _real_ broken up over it…” Pidge comments sarcastically.

“But it would be a waste of time, valuable resources, and potential lives to launch a rescue mission to save one person,” the Admiral continues as though Pidge hadn’t said anything. “Kogane is a soldier and this is a war. He knows that in times of war, sacrifices must be made. We cannot risk the entire mission to save one person.”

“This is not just any one person.” Allura states firmly as Pidge, Hunk, and Lance frown and exchange a meaningful look. “This is a Paladin of Voltron and not just any Paladin, but the Paladin for the Black Lion and Leader of Voltron.”

“Did Kogane not appoint Officer McClain to lead Voltron in his absence? Seems only logical that he should pilot this Lion and continue leading.”

“That’s not how it works!” Hunk tells them.

“The Lions pick those who fly them, not the other way around,” Coran adds.

“Did Officer McClain not recently gain the ability to fly the Black Lion and was Captain Shirogane not the Black Paladin before Kogane?” another officer points out. “Seems to me the Black Paladin is replaceable.”

“Why you little…”

“Officer Griffin,” Shiro says as he calmly holds up his hand to silence him after having a quick word with Iverson and Sam.

Griffin steps back as Shiro stands with his hands behind his back, adopting a commanding stance with a poker face that would impress Kolivan were he present before requesting.

“All those who believe that we should focus solely on retrieving the Red Lion and do not believe Commander Kogane is worth saving, please raise your hand.”

Pidge smirks as several officers raise their hands.

Shiro is relieved to see only ¼ of the Garrison officers present raise their hands.

Iverson and Sam both give Shiro the thumbs up to continue.

“Every single one of you that raised your hand.”

Shiro glares at them all as he yells.

“GET OFF MY SHIP!”

“I… I beg your pardon, Captain?!” one of the admirals asks.

He and the other senior officers who raised their hands stare at him in shock.

“You heard me, Admiral.” Shiro tells him firmly before repeating. “GET. OFF. MY. SHIP.”

“You dare…”

 **“YES I DO!”** Shiro growls angrily, cutting across the admiral’s statement.

The Paladins all exchange looks of satisfaction with Matt as Shiro continues.

“You see, Admiral; it has come to my attention in the mere **hours** since Commander Kogane went missing that a number of Garrison's High Command aboard this ship have been unforgivably **racist** and **bigoted** towards him since it became known he was part Galra. If there is one thing I will NEVER tolerate on my ship, it is narrow-minded, hateful people who treat people like GARBAGE for something that is beyond their control.”

“Captain,” the first Admiral sputters, looking believably offended by the accusation. “I don’t know where you are getting such information but I assure you I would never…”

“I trust the word of my source more than I do yours, Admiral!” Shiro tells him bluntly. “Especially since I know you have a history of snubbing people whose views and opinions you believe aren’t worth your consideration. I know because I was there to witness one of them!”

“Captain, don’t you think that’s a little harsh…”

“No I don’t, Admiral,” Shiro tells him plainly. “And don’t think for a second that I don’t remember you were among those I had to fight **tooth and nail** to get Commander Kogane enrolled at the Garrison in the first place as a 15 year old.”

Shiro’s glare hardens even more.

“And while I’m on the subject; I have also been recently informed exactly HOW and WHY he was expelled from the Garrison in the first place and I can guess from experience that YOU TWO played a part in it!”

“Sir, with all due respect,” one of the other officers begins. “Kogane…”

“ **Commander** Kogane!” Shiro corrects him sharply. “The fact that ALL of you are REFUSING to at least respect his title tells me volumes!”

“How dare you speak to us in such a way!” the first Admiral says. “We are your commanding officers…”

 **“NOT OUT HERE YOU’RE NOT!”** Shiro reminds him firmly. “This isn’t Earth, Admiral, and this isn’t the Garrison; it’s SPACE . You are on my ship among my crew and I know for a fact that most of the crew is loyal to **me** , not Garrison Command who kept fighting our attempts to liberate Earth with bullshit protocols! By force or by free will, you will **all** be leaving my ship; even if I have to throw you out an airlock myself! Now for the last time: **GET OFF MY SHIP!** ”

“The Garrison will hear about this, Captain Shirogane!” One of the Admirals tells him as they all stand to leave.

“We are currently in a galaxy on the other side of the universe from the Milky Way,” Shiro reminds them. “It took **_US_** almost a year and a half to get to Earth from that distance; not counting the time disturbance that jumped us forward three years and WE had the Lions. You’ll be in a single engine pod without any means of creating a wormhole or even calling out to Earth for help. You really think you’ll ever get to Earth from here?”

“Oh, and something to think about as you walk home,” Hunk points out. “If Commander Kogane were in this room right now, he would have convinced us **not** to do this.”

“But he isn’t here right now, is he?” Lance concludes.

The mention of Keith’s opinion on this course of action softens Shiro’s stance.

“Wait!”

Shiro takes a deep breath.

“Officers McClain and Garrett make an excellent point.”

Shiro turns to Iverson.

“Have these people taken to the brig. I won’t leave them to die out here, but I’m not going to risk another Sanda by leaving them all free. They will remain there until we can find a way to transport them home. AFTER we’ve rescued Commander Kogane and I’ve had a long talk with Garrison Command back on Earth about their behavior.”

He turns back to them.

“Just know, Commander Kogane is the **ONLY** reason you aren't all being forced to walk home. Keith would never forgive us for condemning you to die out here; regardless of what you've done. Something for you to think about while you’re sitting in the brig…”

Iverson gets up and grabs a few of his officers to escort them out.

“As for the rest of High Command,” Shiro continues while looking back at the room. “Let it be known, I will not tolerate ANYONE being treated with anything less than respect, and that goes double for Commander Kogane. Am I clear?”

Every one of them nods.

“Good. Now that that’s dealt with, back to the briefing.”

~

Hours later after forming a general plan, Shiro retreats back to his office once more to collect himself.

He barely sits at his desk when he hears a knock.

“Enter.”

He’s surprised to see Griffin enter.

“Commander Griffin?”

“I wanted to speak freely with you a moment, Sir,” Griffin tells him after closing the door.

“Permission granted.”

“I felt you should know… that originally Command wanted to arrest Keith and charge him with both assault and destruction of public property,” Griffin tells him as he sits in the chair on the other side of the desk. “The other MFE pilots and I are the reason Keith got out of the Garrison following his rampage without being seen.”

“Forgive me for saying this, but that surprises me,” Shiro tells him. “I’m grateful you did but I didn’t think you particularly liked Keith all that much.”

“I don’t blame you,” Griffin tells him before adding, “Keith was my roommate at the Garrison before he was expelled. Yet, despite the fact that we didn’t like each other, I didn’t realize until I had another roommate that Keith was actually a pretty good roommate. He never blared music when I was trying to study or sleep, never had the lights on when I wanted them off, and always kept his stuff on his side of the room. In fact he seemed to be trying to take up as little space as possible, probably because he knew I didn't like him now that I think of it. I hadn’t realized until later but he didn’t really spend a lot of time **in** our dorm. If he wasn’t with you, he was in the library until late at night if he needed to study. Yet I would never hear him come in at night. My point is, Keith and I may have had our differences, but even I knew what they did to him was wrong. I had Leifsdottir and Kinkade extract the last of Keith’s pay and funding while deleting all records that could tell them where Keith might go. While they did that, I took Keith back to our dorm to get him cleaned up and help him pack up everything he cared enough for while Rizavi got a hoverbike ready for him. Then I got him to it, gave him his stuff, funding, pay, and some provisions, and promised no one would ever find him. They never did so they expelled him and called it even.”

“Is that why you’ve been so defensive of Keith since we got back?” Shiro asks.

“In part,” Griffin admits. “I also got a taste of what he’s lived with his whole life.”

“What do you mean?”

Griffin takes a deep breath.

“Right before Kerberos left… my parents were killed in a car crash,” Griffin admits. “One day I had a family… the next, nothing…”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Shiro tells him honestly.

“After I got the news, I’ll admit I was kinda prickly,” Griffin continues. “They meant well, but everyone was trying to give me some pearl of wisdom or platitude that they thought would make me feel better but just made it worse.”

“Or they’d try to hug you or something like it was some magical medicine you needed?” Shiro guesses.

Griffin raises an eyebrow at Shiro.

“I lost both my parents in a house fire when I was younger,” Shiro tells him. “And then my grandfather that took in my brother and me died a year after I joined the Garrison so I know the feeling well.”

“So you get it,” Griffin states. “Anyway, after a while I just retreated to my dorm room and just avoided everyone by staying in my bunk. I didn’t even leave for meals anymore. I just… didn’t want to deal with everyone. Instructors let me of course, they knew what happened. Yet every day when I woke up, there was a plate of food on my bedside table where I could see it. No note, no nothing, just a plate of food and some water. There were days at first when I didn’t eat it, but I still saw new plates of food every day.”

Griffin looks out the window.

“I knew who it was. Other than High Command, no one else had access to our room but Keith. Then one day I woke up early and caught him switching out an empty plate with a fresh one.”

~

_“I figured it was you…”_

_A 17 year old Griffin looks out from under his blankets._

_Keith spooks a little like he’s prepared to run, like a skittish cat._

_“Why are you doing this for me?” Griffin asks him. “I’ve done nothing but make your life miserable since we were in middle school… why are you helping me?”_

_Keith doesn’t look up from the plate he was leaving._

_“It’s the right thing to do…” he tells Griffin as he sets down the plate. “I know how irritating it can be to hear all the well-meaning bullshit people tell you in the first few weeks or so. I know there’s nothing anyone can say to make it feel better…I wish I could have avoided everyone like this until it didn't hurt as much anymore...”_

_With that, he leaves._

_Later that night, Griffin sneaks out of their dorm after curfew to sit on the roof._

_He thinks about what he feels now and imagines he’s a child feeling it. Suddenly he understands why Keith punched him when he made the comment about his parents._

_He deserved that punch in the face._

_If this is what it feels like as a_ **_teenager_ ** _to lose your family, it must be hell on Earth to feel it as a child._

_Griffin at least has the Garrison._

_Keith had nothing._

_He sees someone silently sit beside him. He doesn’t need to look to see its Keith._

_He doesn’t say anything, just sits beside him and Griffin is grateful._

~

“Yeah, that sounds like Keith…” Shiro tells him. “Always forgiving, never holding a grudge…”

“Sometimes I wish he would,” Griffin admits. “God knows there are people who don’t deserve his forgiveness.”

Shiro looks at Griffin for a moment.

“When we first got back to Earth… and were brought to the Garrison… for a brief moment… you and Keith shared a look…”

Griffin raises a challenging eyebrow at Shiro.

“Captain Shirogane, are you asking if Keith and I dated?”

Shiro raises a challenging eyebrow of his own.

“And if I am?"

“Yes, we did…” Griffin tells him, still amused. “Briefly... once we both cleared about 4 or 5 years’ worth of bad air between us… but we were a couple for a few months. We broke up after Kerberos went missing because finding you and protecting your name became all he cared about at that point… and I honestly can’t say I didn’t expect it… but I still respect him and care about him… and want to see him happy.”

“Keith’s lucky he had you then…”

Shiro sighs as he looks back at his hands on top of his desk.

“I know I’ve put him through hell…”

“Even when we were dating, I could tell **_you_** were the one he was really in love with,” Griffin admits. “I don't think he realized it either… and to be fair I can’t blame him given how he grew up after his father died… but I knew when our relationship began that I was living in your shadow.”

“Sorry about that…” Shiro apologizes.

“Don’t be,” Griffin tells him as he gets up. “I may have known him longer than you did, but you definitely saw Keith first… The _real_ Keith…"

Griffin moves toward the door.

"Just... take care of him when we find him.”

Griffin opens the door.

“He deserves it.”

~

Keith groans and blinks his eyes open weakly.

The first thing he sees is lights above his head that make him squint. He looks around but can't see much past the spotlight in front of him.

Then he notices he’s not alone.

“ _You!_ ” Keith growls.

He tries to move his limbs but finds he’s strapped to a medical table by his wrists, ankles, and torso facing Honerva.

“Save your energy, Red Paladin!” Honerva tells him. “I have need of it.”

“I am impressed that he has awakened so soon,” Lotor comments.

“Of course he has…” Honerva says calmly as she approaches Keith, who looks back at her with a look of pure hatred. “You have been hiding quite the little secret, haven’t you?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” Keith asks her tiredly.

Honerva laughs.

“You mean you do not know!” she tells him gleefully. “Even better! You see Red Paladin, until recently I had never truly seen you or interacted with you before. I have been face to face with everyone else, either in person or through the clone but not with you. And then you left soon after the clone arrived and so I saw even less of you. Then this happened.”

Honerva holds her hands out in front of her and shows Keith an image of him fighting with Shiro’s clone from the clone’s eyes.

Keith’s eyes are catlike, his teeth are fangs, and his skin is tinted purple.

“I was intrigued, I had never seen a half breed shift like that before,” Honerva explains. “During the three deca-phoebs Voltron disappeared I analyzed security footage of your rescue of Princess Allura and discovered this.”

The image changes to footage of Keith’s first fight with Macidus and how quintessence healed his hand.

“I then gave the druids my final order after placing a rift creature in each of them so I would be able to see through their eyes,” Honerva explains. “Imagine my surprise when I see this.”

The image changes again to Keith’s second fight with Macidus in the ruins. The moment when Keith sensed where Macidus was going to appear again before throwing his sword and hitting him in the chest.

“I have been working with druids for 10,000 years,” Honerva tells him. “I know druidic potential when I see it.”

“You recognize this, do you not?”

Lotor holds up the canister that had Keith’s quintessence in it.

“I acquired a specimen from the Abyss for Mother to grant the ability to drain quintessence.”

“The thing that attacked Rada?” Keith guesses.

“Indeed. Mother wished to study your quintessence so she created a robeast solely to drain yours,” Lotor continues. “We told it that all it had to do was attack the Black Paladin and you would jump in. While you were all distracted tending to the natives, it was retrieved.”

“Your quintessence is like none I have ever seen before,” Honerva tells him. “It is more powerful and more potent than any Altean or Galra I have ever encountered, but things react differently when exposed to it. A tiny drop of your quintessence shrank Ontar.”

“You were never after Allura…were you?”

“Most perceptive! Mother sent me to Arus to collect you for her,” Lotor explains. “Sadly, Princess Allura and your pet interfered and your pet's attempts to teleport interfered with Ontar's so we ended up on Arus. I knew the other Paladins would not be far behind so I had to think fast. I activated the old sentry factories Sendak placed after you ejected him into space. Sadly, things did not go as planned.”

“While everyone was busy focusing on finding you, I slipped a spy onto the ship to inform me when they found you and began planning my next move,” Honerva continues.

"I captured Trapus D and placed the Galra space station," Lotor adds. "We had the spy take the disguise of the communications officer from the Bridge crew right before he took the missive to Romelle, knowing she would be gullible enough to take the bait."

“You killed Kolivan and my mother…and Kosmo…”

“Considering you left my son to die in the space between realities and killed his pet, I believe it is a fair punishment,” Honerva tells him sharply. “Besides, I needed something to send you into a rage. I knew you would kill whomever killed your mother so naturally we asked Morvok to plant the bomb."

Honerva grips his chin painfully in her hand then.

"It matters not… I finally have what I came for…”

Keith bites her hand then and quickly gets a backhand for it.

“Tsk… save your energy!”

Honerva revs up her magic.

“You will have great need of it while I experiment.”

Keith cries out in pain as Honerva’s magic courses through his body.

~

The morning they plan to rescue Keith and the Red Lion, Shiro is sitting in the briefing room with the remaining Paladins, Matt, Coran, Acxa, and Veronica.

“With Keith in Honerva’s clutches, it puts us in a bit of a predicament,” Coran says. “Not only do we not have Red, but now the Black Lion also doesn’t have a Paladin.”

"I mean, Lance _was_ able to pilot her off of that planet they were stranded on," Pidge points out.

“We had the Black Bayard then."

Allura looks at her hands.

"Honerva not only has the Red Lion and Keith, but she also has the Black Bayard as well.”

“Er… actually…”

Lance steps forward from where he was standing against the wall under the viewscreen.

“She… doesn’t.”

Everyone gasps as Lance holds up the Black Bayard.

“Lance, why do you have the Black Bayard?” Pidge asks.

“Look, it’s not what you think; alright!” Lance says defensively. “Before Keith left for his mission, he pulled me aside and gave it to me for safe keeping.”

“He told you to keep his bayard safe?” Veronica asks incredulously.

“Look, if you don’t believe me; Pidge pull the security footage from the storage room nearest to the Lion hanger up on the viewscreen behind me!”

“We believe you, Lance,” Shiro assures him as Pidge immediately starts typing away at her laptop. “We just want to know what happened.”

“Maybe you guys do, but someone is bound to question it so let’s just nip this in the butt and go straight to the proof.”

Lance looks Shiro dead in his eye.

“Besides, **you** need to hear what he said yourself.”

“I must admit my surprise at your storage rooms having cameras in them,” Acxa states.

Veronica snorts.

“The Garrison has repeated issues with personnel and cadets using them for… unauthorized activities,” Veronica explains.

“Ah! To be young!” Coran comments.

“I got it!” Pidge exclaims. “Putting it on the viewscreen now.”

They watch Keith pull Lance into the storage room.

_“Hey! What the… Keith?”_

_“Shh… there isn’t much time!” Keith tells Lance while making sure no one can listen in before locking the storage room door._

_“Err… Keith, why are we in a storage room?” Lance whispers._

_“Just shut up and listen!” Keith tells him. “I need you to hold this for me.”_

_Keith hands Lance the Black Bayard._

_“Er... why are you giving me the Black Bayard?”_

_“Let me ask you something Lance; when have_ **_any_ ** _of our planned missions against Honerva ever gone the way we planned?” Keith asks him._

_“Er…”_

_“I’ll tell you;_ **_never._ ** _Our planned missions against Honerva have gone as planned exactly never times. There’s always some small, but important detail we didn’t know beforehand that ends up throwing a wrench in the plan. Our plan to save Allura from Galra Central Command? Turns out Zarkon was the original Black Paladin who_ **_STILL_ ** _had a strong enough connection to Black to steal him out from under Shiro. Our plan with the Blades to try to defeat Zarkon once and for all? Turns out Haggar had the Komar waiting in the wings. Naxela? The entire thing turned out to be a trap to destroy Voltron and the Coalition. Every time we go up against Honerva in some form, somehow it always goes awry. Every. Single. Time.”_

“That’s actually a fair point,” Hunk remarks. “Our plan to save Trapus D and the Altean? The whole mission was a trap and the Red Lion had been corrupted by her from the start.

He looks back at the viewscreen.

_“Shiro thinks it will work without a problem?” Lance tells Keith._

_“Shiro has to seem confident in his plans. His demeanor affects the morale of the crew,” Keith tells him. “But as Voltron’s leader and Shiro’s second-in-command, it’s my job to take the initiative and address such matters while creating a contingency plan in the event something goes wrong...”_

_“If you have doubts about this, why didn’t you voice them in the briefing,” Lance asks._

_Keith hesitates._

_“Because there’s a spy.”_

_“How do you know?”_

_“That's what Kolivan told us,” Keith tells him. “Code 5P1 is Blade code for spy. Hence the secrecy.”_

_“So the part about there being a Blade was a lie?”_

_“Yes.” Keith admits. “I have my suspicions about who the spy is and if I’m right, they were in the briefing. I needed them to think I wasn’t on to them so I gave them a bait they couldn't refuse. If I'm right, they've already taken it.”_

_“Shouldn’t we tell the others?”_

_“I have Acxa looking into it for me, you have other things to focus on right now,” Keith tells him. “If my hunch proves right, I need to make sure Black can be piloted. I have a bad feeling I might be walking into a trap and if I’m right, I can’t have this on me. Which is why I’m giving it to you.”_

_“But why me?” Lance asks._

_“You’re my second-in-command,” Keith points out to him. “Besides, I told you I want you to lead Voltron if anything happens to me.”_

“Hold on!” Veronica says.

Pidge pauses the feed.

“When did Keith ask you to lead Voltron?”

“When we were lost on that planet,” Lance tells her impatiently before motioning to Pidge to continue.

_“Keith, I thought you were delirious from the planet poisoning you! Why the quiznak would you make me the leader?!” Lance asks._

_Keith laughs._

_“Yep, said that too.”_

_“Keith… I don’t want to be the leader,” Lance tells Keith. “Maybe I did once, but I don’t anymore!”_

_“You think I did?” Keith asks Lance with a raised eyebrow. “I was happy flying Red. Being in Red was the first time I ever felt like I truly belonged anywhere. I hated being a leader. I still do but… there really isn’t much choice so...” Keith shrugs. “I hated it so much, once I thought Shiro was back and could be the Black Paladin again, I ran away from it.”_

_Lance looks at him in stunned silence for a tic._

_“That’s why you left?”_

_“Among other reasons…”_

_“I thought you left because the Blades had a lead on Lotor.”_

_“That’s just the lie I told myself to justify it,” Keith tells Lance as he pets Kosmo. “Once I had a moment to think, I realized it was a lie.”_

_His shoulder slumps before he admits._

_“I ran away. Just like I always do…" The last part was said in a singsong voice. "But I was a terrible leader back then anyway. Even if that Shiro was a clone, he was still a better leader than me.”_

‘Keith…’

Shiro closes his eyes against the ache in his heart.

He’d known Keith hadn’t wanted to lead. He heard how much Keith struggled with it at first. The fact that he forced Keith in the position where he felt his only option was to run away makes him feel horrible for putting that burden on his shoulders in the first place, well-meaning as it might have been.

Just one more thing to add to the growing pile of regrets.

He’s still looking at the table when he hears the next part.

_“Keith, why make me the leader? Why not Shiro? I mean, he was Black’s Paladin once, right?”_

_“Shiro has been going a million miles an hour since the moment he was kidnapped by the Galra. He was kidnapped, tortured, experimented on, forced to fight to the death in some Roman Colosseum type bullshit, had his hand taken away and replaced with that prosthetic he had, finally escaped only to be strapped to a fucking table by the Garrison like a biology frog, became the leader of Voltron_ **_despite_ ** _the fact he had PTSD from said kidnapping, died, had his consciousness trapped in the astral plane in the Black Lion’s head, had said consciousness transferred into the body of his clone, had to fight said clone’s body because it was rejecting him, and won, was able to rest a little bit while recovering from his body transplant as we traveled with us to Earth only to find it taken over by Sendak; the very Galra who kidnapped him in the first place. He then_ _learns his ex-fiance was killed in the initial attack, got a new arm, had to watch us nearly get killed_ **_several_ ** _times, and finally he’s being forced to sit on the sidelines and watch us fight while he’s Captain of the Atlas. Which I’m proud of but that’s not my point. Shiro needs a goddamn break so he can take a fucking breath. Not to mention, we still don’t know_ **_why_ ** _he died in the first place so I’m definitely not putting him back in the Black Lion until that shit is figured out. So I’m asking you.”_

A watery smile spreads across Shiro’s face at that.

Even when he doesn’t deserve it, Keith is still taking care of him.

 _Lance sighs._

_“Alright… I’ll keep the bayard safe,” Lance tells him._

_Keith hands him the bayard._

_“Keith, you should know… you’re dying,” Lance told him._

_Keith smiles at him sadly._

_“I know…”_

“Wait what?!” Hunk asks as everyone’s mouths drop.

“He knew?!” Matt asks.

 _“You knew?! For how long?” Lance asks._

_Keith hesitates, a well-known tell of his that Shiro knows means none of them are going to like the answer._

_“Keith Kogane, how long have you known you were dying?”_

"Way to channel Mom there, Lance," Veronica teases.

_“You want how long I suspected or how long I knew for sure?” Keith stalls._

_“Keith!”_

_“I didn’t know for sure until last night, but I’ve been suspecting it since about halfway through our trip back to Earth.”_

_Lance stares at him in shock as a silence stretches between them._

So does every single person watching.

“WHAT?!”

 _“WHAT?!”_

_“Shh…” Keith hisses._

_“What?!” Lance repeats quietly._

_“You think I don’t know Pidge ran a medical scan on me yesterday when I picked up my upgrade?” Keith asks with a raised eyebrow. “She rambles when she’s nervous about getting caught doing something…”_

“I do not!” Pidge exclaims.

“Sorry, Pidge but you kinda do,” Matt tells her, earning him a punch to the shoulder from her.

_“Also, I saw the scanner lights come on as I was looking down at it and the Plexiglas window behind her showed a reflection of the medical scans,” Keith continues. “Wasn’t hard to put two and two together.”_

_“You noticed all that?”_

_“I’m a Blade, Lance. We’re basically spies.” Keith reminds him. “It’s a short career if you’re not observant. Anyway, last night while everyone was asleep I used Kosmo to sneak down to Pidge’s lab and read the scan.”_

_“Doesn’t Pidge have a password on her computer or something?”_

_“I just told you I’m a spy, Lance,” Keith tells him. “I got past it...”_

“It’s an encryption code I made using a code Dad and Matt created,” Pidge says with a frown as she pauses the feed. “How was he able to get past it?”

“Er…” Matt says tensely. “I… _might_ have taught Kolivan and the Blades our code… and Kolivan _may_ have taught Keith…”

 _“Still, how have you been suspecting it for so long and why didn't you say anything?”_

_Keith sighs._

_“When Mom and I were in the abyss, I saw flashes of things. Some of them were things that happened in the past, like when my parents met…"_

_A little smile appears on Keith's face._

_"Others were things that had yet to come to pass. At the time... I didn’t understand what I was seeing was the future… but then three of the things I saw happened in short succession of each other,” Keith says. “Even then though, it's hard to tell what they mean until it's happening. After that, we were too busy and I wasn’t even sure what was happening to me specifically so I didn’t say anything and hoped it would just go away…”_

“BS!” Shiro and Matt both yell, making everyone jump.

“This is deeper than that!” Shiro adds as Pidge pauses it again.

“How do you two know that?” Veronica asks.

“I just do!” Shiro says.

“Knowing Keith, he probably figured it wasn’t worth making a fuss over,” Matt guesses.

“That _is_ why he didn’t tell anyone he was being bullied again,” Lance adds.

“Yeah that sounds like him,” Shiro agrees as Pidge hits play again.

 _“Keith…” Lance whispers. “What exactly did you see?”_

_“I saw myself getting captured… didn’t see how… then I saw my capture leading to the Coalition gaining something that will be vital to winning the war. Again, I didn’t see what. Then I saw myself dying before anyone could rescue me… didn’t see why or what I was dying from… It wasn't until Kolivan told me about the spy and I saw Pidge’s scan that I figured it out. Something’s going to happen today that will lead to my capture and death. It’s ok… It’s supposed to happen. I’ve had time to come to terms with it…”_

“ _And_ history repeats itself…” Matt comments dryly.

“What?” Pidge asks as she pauses it.

“Nothing...” Matt dismisses. “Just… this isn’t the first time he’s tried to make this kind of decision.”

Shiro suddenly remembers Keith stopping to talk to him before the ill-fated mission. How calm Keith was before he left and how he’d hugged him tighter than usual and hadn’t seemed to want to let go.

Then Shiro remembered something Keith said.

 _“…I had to see you one last time…”_

“He was saying good-bye…” Shiro mutters to himself in shock.

Keith knew he likely wasn't going to come back from this mission and he didn’t want Shiro’s last memory of him to be of them arguing in the event that he died.

 _“Keith, are you even listening to yourself?! Allura can cleanse the corruption! She can save you! You don’t need to die!" Lance tells him._

_“There’s no time, Lance! Maybe if I’d known for sure earlier, we could have done something but it’s too late to save me.” Keith tells him. “It needs to happen. I don’t know what we’ll get, but it’s vital to winning the war.”_

_Lance sighs._

_“You’re wrong, Keith. If you do get captured, we_ **_will_ ** _rescue you. I promise, we won't let you die.”_

 _After that, Lance leaves and Keith uses Kosmo to teleport out of the supply room._

“Wow…” Hunk states as Pidge closes her laptop while wiping her eyes.

“Given Keith’s wishes…” Coran says trying to get everything back on track. “I feel it’s only right that Lance should pilot the Black Lion, seeing as how the Lion has already accepted him.”

“Here’s another problem,” Pidge begins. “Allura has to stay on the Atlas to open the wormhole AND cleanse the Red Lion when we get him back as soon as possible. That means we’ll only have the three working Lions in the field; Yellow, Green, and Black.”

“We will figure that out in the hanger!” Allura states. “For now, let us prepare! The sooner we get Keith back here, the better chance I have of saving him. We will not let his sacrifice be in vain.”

~

When they get to the Lion hanger, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk all strip out of their Garrison uniform and activate their armor before boarding the Lions.

Shiro stands in the hanger beside Allura as they take off.

Suddenly he's had enough.

“I can’t do this anymore!” Shiro yells as he hits the nearby lockers with his prosthetic. “I can’t sit on the sidelines while the people I love are in danger on the front lines!”

“Shiro…” Allura begins. “This isn't your fault.”

“Like hell it’s not!” Shiro states bitterly. “If I hadn’t been pushing Keith away, I would have noticed he was sick sooner and we could have gotten him help! I can’t sit here and do _nothing_ while Honerva does God knows what to him! I promised Krolia I’d do everything I could to get him back and I can’t do that if I’m stuck here!”

Shiro drops to his knees then; eyes looking at his hands as he continues.

“How many times am I going to have to hold his broken body in my arms? How many times am I going to have to watch him almost die while I’m safe on a support ship? I can’t do this anymore… I want to be fighting at Keith’s side, not watching helplessly as he runs into danger again and again! I want to save him and protect him, just like he has always been saving and protecting me!”

Shiro takes a shaky breath before finally admitting.

“I want to be a Paladin again!”

Allura and Shiro both jump as Blue suddenly bends down to their level and opens her jaw in front of Shiro. 

Allura smiles as she hands Shiro the Blue Bayard.

“I believe you will be needing this.”

Without hesitation, Shiro takes it before shucking his Garrison uniform off and hitting the black V pin to activate his armor. He stands and runs up Blue’s ramp into her cockpit and sits in her seat.

“Thank you, Blue!”

He feels a purr in his mind in response.

With determination, Shiro grips her controls.

“Let's go save Keith!”


	11. Seeing Red, Part 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the knowledge that Keith's alive, the Paladins race against the clock to save him before it's too late.

The wormhole opens and the Atlas and Lions come out near the remains of a dead planet.

“What was this place?” Hunk asks.

“I don’t believe it…” Coran says in wonder.

He turns to Allura as she steps up on the Captain’s post.

“Allura, you recognize where we are; right?”

“It is Pollux,” Allura says in wonder.

"What's left of it anyway," Coran adds.

Suddenly, all four Lions turn.

“I think the Lions found Red,” Shiro observes.

They’re immediately attacked by Red with a small squad of Galra fighters with a cruiser.

“MFEs, take care of the fighters while we deal with the cruiser. Leave Red to the Paladins,” Allura commands.

“Roger that!”

“Cannons locked onto the Galra cruiser’s weapons systems,” Iverson tells her.

“Fire!”

All shots hit their mark.

“Princess Allura, it’s good to be following your commands again,” Coran tells her, earning him a sweet smile.

While the MFEs take out the fighters one by one and the Atlas makes short work of the cruiser, the Lions engage the Red Lion.

“Um, does anyone else feel like their Lion just assumed full control?” Hunk asks when Yellow slams into Red to keep his railgun from hitting the Atlas without him doing it.

“Yeah, Black is moving completely on his own,” Lance adds as Black throws his jaw blade as Red attacks Yellow.

“So is Green,” Pidge says as Green entangles Red in vines while Black and Yellow have him distracted.

“The Lions probably know something’s wrong with Red, so they’re handling it themselves,” Shiro states as Blue hits Red's face with an ice blast after Red burns through Green's vines. “Plus, they’re probably worried about him.”

“Whatever ends this fight quicker,” Lance adds.

“All I know is, this fight is awesome!” Hunk says while eating a snack.

“Where the heck did you get a bag of popcorn from?!” Lance asks in exasperation.

“Hey, Pidge gave us these belt pouches to put stuff in!” Hunk tells him defensively. “So I put something in it.”

“That’s what he said…” Pidge deadpans.

Shiro laughs.

“God, I missed flying with you guys!”

“It’s good to have you back in a Lion, Shiro,” Lance tells him. “Take care of him, Blue!”

Shiro feels Blue purr in his mind and smiles.

Eventually, Blue, Yellow, and Green pin Red down. Black lands in front of them and lets out a tremendous roar that turns Red’s eyes yellow long enough for Red to regain control and put up his particle barrier.

“Well, I gotta say that was probably **the** most _awesome_ fight we’ve ever been in!” Hunk says as he claps.

Shiro feels Keith’s knife grow warmer against his back.

He pulls it out and notes the flashing has gotten faster.

“Guys, it looks like Keith is nearby.”

“We’ll take the Red back to the Atlas,” Griffin tells them. “You go get Keith.”

~

“Incredible,” Honerva says in awe as she extinguishes her magic when she finishes her experiments. “The power you wield is remarkable. Such potential... And for you to not only still be conscious but also fully healed! Even more amazing!”

Keith is gasping for breath, his voice hoarse from screaming. His body tingles and aches all over from having Honerva’s magic coursing through his body.

“He _is_ the more physically resilient of the Paladins,” Lotor tells her.

“To harness such power for our side,” Honerva states in contemplation.

“I… will **never** serve you!” Keith growls.

“You no longer have any say in the matter,” Honerva says as she holds up a rift creature in her hand.

The rift creature jumps from Honerva’s hand into Keith’s body. Keith’s entire body glows purple as he fights its influence.

“Resist if you must…” Honerva tells him. “It matters not. In the end, you will be mine.”

Suddenly, there’s a flash of images in Honerva’s mind’s eye of Allura and the Red Lion before she feels the Red Lion get cut off from her.

“Mother!” Lotor says, catching Honerva when she stumbles.

“The Paladins have taken back the Red Lion,” she whispers to him. “The Princess has cleansed its quintessence of the Rift Creature. It is a matter of time before they find us.”

She looks up at him sweetly.

“Be a dear and hold them off for me.”

“I will, Mother,” Lotor tells her before leaving.

Honerva looks back at Keith as he fights.

“It is just you and me now, Red Paladin…” Honerva tells him. “How long will it take to break you, I wonder?”

~

The Paladins follow Keith’s knife through the debris field until they come to the largest piece of debris floating in the center.

“Is that a **Galra** building on that rock?” Hunk asks.

“Look at all of the docking ports!” Pidge points out. “This was something important to the empire.”

“Whatever it is, looks like Keith’s down there,” Shiro says as the knife flashes faster.

Before they can move, they’re hit by a laser blast.

“Oh no, not **_this_** guy again!” Lance groans as the Sincline ship comes into view.

“ **Of course,** he still has the Sincline…” Pidge deadpans.

“Man, he clobbered us last time!” Hunk says. “And we had both Voltron AND Keith with us.”

Shiro growls in frustration.

“Ok, here's the plan,” Lance says. “Hunk, Pidge, you two help me distract Lotor. Only one of us needs to go get Keith and that person should be Shiro. It’s the whole reason he’s out here with us.”

“Right… distract the mech that can disappear and reappear anywhere,” Hunk whines.

“Look, we don’t have to beat him, we just need to keep him distracted long enough for Shiro to go down there and do the thing.”

“Thanks guys,” Shiro says.

“Hang on a tic.”

Pidge starts typing something into her console.

“Shiro, I’m sending something to the computer in your suit…"

Shiro opens it and sees what looks like a replica of the quintessence scanner.

“This program will give you a real time update on the corruption in Keith’s quintessence. If we can get him back to Allura before his quintessence is solid black, she can save him. Once his quintessence is completely corrupted, it’s too late. He’ll die.”

“Thanks, Pidge,” Shiro tells her.

“Alright Green! Let’s get this party started!”

Pidge fires Green's tail laser at Lotor’s ship and gets him to chase her. Lance and Hunk quickly follow suit.

As soon as Shiro sees an opening, he takes it.

~

Keith is still resisting the creature’s influence when Honerva sees the Blue Lion touch down on the asteroid.

“Change in plan,” Honerva mutters to herself.

Her eyes glow as she uses the rift creature to speak inside Keith’s head.

~

_Inside Keith’s mind, he’s surrounded by darkness._

_“Your will is strong…” Keith hears Honerva’s voice whisper in his ear. “But I will break you!”_

_“I won’t be your puppet!” Keith says defiantly as he takes a swipe at her._

_“I already have my beloved son to follow my every wish,” Honerva tells him._

_“You brainwash your own son and call that love?”_

~

Shiro follows Keith’s knife from room to room and finds numerous operating rooms and labs. He has a number of flashbacks of Haggar and the druids experimenting on him with quintessence in one of these rooms. He remembers his forelock turning white from the experiments with quintessence and waking up one day to find they removed his hand to replace it with the prosthetic one.

He shakes his head to pull himself out of the flashback. Now is not the time for this.

~

_“You and I are the same, Red Paladin.”_

_“We’re nothing alike!" Keith growls. "Don’t even pretend we are!”_

_“We both fell in love with the Black Paladin; did we not?”_

_Keith draws in a sharp intake of breath at that._

_“I merely wish to spare you the pain it will inevitably cause you.”_

_“What are you talking about?”_

_“Love is a weakness, Red Paladin. It brings only pain and misery and leaves you vulnerable. You will only end up being hurt, just as I did.”_

~

Shiro is making his way through a corridor when he’s attacked by drones and sentries.

He uses Keith’s knife and his floating arm to fight them.

 _~_

_“Shiro would never hurt me!”_

_“He has before…”_

_Suddenly the darkness becomes an image of Shiro showing Keith the shuttle for the Kerberos Launch._

_“I can’t believe you talked them into letting me see you off,” Keith comments. “How many times are you going to stick your neck out for me?”_

_“As many times as it takes,” Shiro tells him as he throws an arm around Keith's shoulders._

_Keith smiles at him._

_A comfortable silence envelopes them._

_“Hey Keith?”_

_“Yeah?”_

_“Promise me you’ll still be here when I get back.”_

_Keith looks up at Shiro._

_“Only if you promise to come back.”_

_Shiro smiles down at him._

_“Deal.”_

_Then Keith watches the Kerberos take off from the ground with tears rolling down his face._

_“He promised to never leave. Yet he left.”_

_“Because_ **_I_ ** _let him go!” Keith argues. “It was his dream!”_

_“And then he promised to return and then didn’t…”_

_“Because he was held prisoner by you and your husband! Eventually he returned home, just like he promised.”_

_“That does not change how much it hurt you.”_

_“That’s in the past!”_

_“Are you sure?”_

_The scene changes to Shiro suddenly avoiding Keith on the Atlas after months of them getting closer to one another._

_“Shiro has his reasons.”_

_“His silence is still hurting you,” Honerva tells him. “And do you want to know why he’s avoiding you?”_

_The images change to Shiro walking away with the dark-skinned guy from the bridge._

_“He's in love with someone else,” she implies._

_“Shiro wouldn’t…”_

~

As Shiro runs through the building destroying sentries he remembers being moved through these halls as a Gladiator.

 _~_

_“Did you think you mattered to him? That anything you ever did mattered to him? That he would ever love you back in the way you love him? He has not even come to save you. After all the times you have saved him…he cannot even be bothered to save you.”_

_As Honerva speaks, Keith watches Shiro go on dates with Curtis, fall in love with him, and get married to him._

_“The truth is… he is glad you are gone…Why else has he not come to save you?_ ”

~

Shiro frantically starts kicking in doors trying to find Keith.

If Keith is in this place...

No…

No, she wouldn’t…

Anything but that…

 _~_

_“And why do you care if he loves you back or not anyway ? You are dying, are you not? Are you so selfish that you would keep him from finding happiness just because you are in love with him?”_

_Tears start to roll down Keith’s face both in his mind and in his physical form._

_He knows_ **_that_ ** _part is true._

 _He_ **_is_ ** _dying and Shiro’s an amazing man that deserves to be happy with someone he can have a future with._

 _Keith loves him with every fiber of his being but he wants Shiro to be happy, even if it isn’t with him._

_“There is nothing left for you here, Red Paladin."_

_He has nothing left._

_Honerva smirks in satisfaction._

" _Everyone who has ever loved you is dead."_

_Everyone who has ever loved him is dead._

" _Why do you still fight? ”_

 _Why is he still fighting?_

"Give in, Red Paladin!"

 _Keith closes his eyes tiredly._

When he opens them, they quickly turn purple.

~

Shiro follows the knife through a pair of double doors and has to shield his eyes against the blinding lights. When his eyes adjust, he immediately recognizes where he is.

It’s the gladiator arena.

Shiro immediately spots Honerva standing where Zarkon would sit and watch.

“Welcome, Champion,” Honerva greets him.

“Where’s Keith?!”

Honerva looks down into the ring where it's shrouded in darkness.

“He is right here.”

Someone standing in the arena with him walks into the light.

It’s Keith.

“No…”

Keith looks exactly as he did when Shiro last saw him, Blade armor and all. Only now his eyes are emotionless as they glow with Honerva’s quintessence.

He’s under Honerva’s control.

Shiro’s worst fear has come true.

“What have you done to him?!”

“He is to be my _new_ champion,” Honerva tells Shiro.

Without looking at Keith, she commands.

“Kill him.”

Keith immediately attacks Shiro.

~

Pidge, Hunk, and Lance are successfully holding off Lotor but they can't hold out forever.

~

They move all over the arena as they fight, Keith throwing punches at Shiro and Shiro blocking and dodging them.

“Keith! I know you’re in there!”

Shiro dodges another attack.

"Come on, Keith, fight her!"

An alert goes off on the scanner on Shiro’s arm.

He glances at it and sees that the corruption in Keith’s quintessence is slowly spreading more.

“Keith, please!”

Shiro blocks one of Keith’s blows.

“If we don’t get you to Allura soon, you’re gonna die!”

“So what?!” Keith yells back. “What do I have to live for?! There’s nothing left for me! Everyone who ever loved me is dead so why shouldn't I be dead, too!”

“Your mom’s alive, Keith!”

“LIAR!”

Keith’s hands glow purple as he jumps up in the air.

Shiro dodges and Keith hits the ground of the arena with his fist, creating a small crater in the ground.

“It’s true, Keith! Your mom, Kolivan, Kosmo. They all survived the explosion!”

“YOU’RE LYING!”

Keith attacks him again, fists glowing as they fight.

“This isn’t you, Keith...”

Shiro dodges.

“This isn’t who you are.”

“What do you know?!” Keith yells. “Everyone but you is always telling me what a selfish and unreliable troublemaker I am! Maybe you're the one who's wrong! Maybe I am a selfish and unreliable troublemaker!”

“Keith…”

“You died!!”

Tears start rolling down Keith’s face as his arm is locked with Shiro’s.

“You died and I didn’t know! How many more times am I going to have the people I love die?!”

“I came back, Keith! You brought me back!”

“And then you abandoned me!”

“I’m sorry!”

Shiro's emotions start to get the better of him.

“I’m sorry I was pushing you away! I knew it was hurting you and I still did it! I’m sorry!”

Shiro loses his footing while dodging an attack and falls flat on his back with a grunt. Before Shiro can get up, Keith is on him.

Shiro's pinned to the ground with one of Keith's glowing hands an inch from his face. Shiro’s Altean arm is the only thing keeping Keith’s hand from killing him.

“Keith… Please…”

Tears start to roll down Shiro's face.

“I know you’re in there…please…this isn’t you… this isn’t who you are… you’re not selfish, unreliable, or a troublemaker… you have never once been any of those things… you’re loyal, and honest and brave and good. You’re such a good person Keith! The best I’ve ever met… Someone who's been let down by WAY too many people... Including me.”

Keith only bears down more.

“…I love you.”

Keith’s eyes widen but he doesn’t get off of Shiro.

"Just give up, Shiro. I'm too far gone. There's no hope for me now."

"Never! I swore, I would never give up on you, and I never will! Even if you’ve given up on yourself..."

Keith stares at Shiro as he continues.

“The day I left for Kerberos, I made you a promise, Keith. I swore I would come back… I never told you this… but… when I was fighting in this arena… when I was a gladiator… the reason I fought so hard to survive… was because I **knew** you were waiting for me. I knew I had to survive. I knew I had to come home. For you.”

Keith disengages and lets Shiro up. He gives Shiro the same wary look he used to give Shiro when they first met and Shiro's his heart aches at it.

“How do I know you’re not just saying what I want to hear?”

Shiro takes a shaky breath as guilt weighs heavily in his heart at the question.

“I’m sorry I lost your trust in me, Keith. I mean every word.”

Shiro pulls Keith’s blade out from behind his back and holds it out to Keith.

“I know I’ve hurt you, Keith…I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness… not after everything I've put you through..."

Shiro takes a shaky breath.

"...But I promise, I’ll make this right. I _swear_ , I will make it better… Just give me one more chance.”

Keith hesitates, looking up at Shiro and then back at the blade before taking it.

The moment his hand touches the handle of the blade, a soft white light travels up his arm until it covers his body. When it dissipates, Keith looks like himself again.

When Keith’s legs buckle, Shiro catches him in his arms.

"Oh, thank God!" Shiro cries as he holds Keith tight and lowers them to the ground.

“Shiro…”

Keith opens his eyes where his face is pressed into Shiro’s shoulder; his eyes now back to their usual color and his arms limp at his sides.

“I’m here, Keith.”

Shiro hugs the younger man tighter.

“I'm here...”

“How dare you!”

Instinctively, Shiro holds Keith protectively in his arms as they look over at Honerva.

“You will pay for your interference, Champion!!”

Honerva fires a blast of quintessence at them.

Shiro instinctively curls his body protectively around Keith. They both close their eyes and brace themselves for the hit.

But, no hit comes.

When they open their eyes, a bayard is suddenly in Shiro’s hand forming the shape of a large circular blue shield.

Keith blinks when he sees the bayard.

“Is... that the Blue Bayard?”

He moves his hands to the older man's chest as he asks.

“Blue let me fly her,” Shiro tells him. “I don’t know if it’s temporary or not but right now I’m her pilot.”

Honerva unleashes a sustained blast of quintessence at them that Shiro blocks with his shield while holding Keith against him.

Keith looks up at Shiro from where his face is pressed into the man’s breastplate as Shiro grits his teeth; holding the shield steady. A warm feeling like Keith has never known courses through his veins like fire.

He rests his forehead against Shiro’s chest and closes his eyes to focus on it. He opens his eyes and clenches his fist as energy collects there that looks like red fire.

Suddenly, he knows what to do.

“When I tell you to, tilt your shield to deflect the beam toward the roof,” Keith tells the older man. “Then drop the shield and get back.”

Shiro only needs to see the look in Keith’s eyes before nodding.

Keith closes his eyes and allows the feeling inside him to grow stronger and stronger until his eyes are glowing red when he opens them again and the ball of red fire in his hand grows hotter and hotter.

“NOW!”

Shiro tilts his shield and the beam of quintessence blows the entire roof off of the arena, getting the attention of Lotor and the other Paladins nearby.

Falling debris from the roof forces Honerva to stop the attack in order to dodge.

Shiro drops the shield and dives to the side.

Keith brings his fist down hard at the ground in Honerva’s direction and sends a fissure of energy at her.

She dodges it and it takes out the side of the arena behind her.

She throws another blast of quintessence at him, but Blue jumps in front of them both, taking the blast.

Eyes still glowing with red energy, Keith uses his jetpack to leap over Blue to attack Honerva. Before Keith reaches her, he’s hit by a blast from above that slams him into the ground.

Lotor appears above the arena in his Sincline.

“You will not harm my mother!”

Honerva uses the dust kicked up by Lotor’s shot to flee.

Keith gets up and looks up at the Sincline before sending a sustained beam of energy that cuts straight through the Sincline; disabling it.

“You think I need a ship to fight you, Keith!?”

Lotor leaps from the crashing ship and floats effortlessly in the air with his own flight suit.

“Let us see how quickly I can destroy you _this_ time!”

Keith inhales before breathing a column of red fire like energy at Lotor that’s clearly seen from above.

“Whoa! Since when can Keith do that?!” Hunk asks as they see Lotor dodge it before using his jetpack to head out of the arena with Keith hot on his tail.

“Is it just me or is Keith manipulating quintessence?” Pidge asks.

“If he is, it's different than Allura’s,” Lance points out.

Shiro runs inside Blue and sits in the seat.

Keith flies after Lotor; throwing balls of fiery energy as he does. When Lotor deflects them, Keith grabs him around the waist to try to tackle him into a nearby piece of planet. Lotor grabs Keith and turns them before kicking Keith away from him as hard as he can.

Keith hits the flat rock surface and tumbles across it before going over the edge into another one nearby. Keith then launches himself off the space rock at Lotor before lobbing a large ball of fiery energy at him.

The two of them battle savagely across the debris field, throwing each other into the debris throughout their fight.

Keith takes a hit from Lotor and tumbles across a space rock. Before he can get up, Lotor knocks him off of that.

Keith uses his jetpack to slow his fall but he still tumbles pretty hard before hitting the base of the rock. Keith gets right back up and flies after Lotor while throwing balls of fiery energy.

He manages to land a hit that sends Lotor tumbling but as Keith flies to continue the attack he feels his body seize painfully, making him cry out and crash into a rock nearby.

He shakes his head out and recovers quickly.

He exchanges a few blows with Lotor before getting sent flying backward.

Keith moves to attack again but is once again halted by his body suddenly seizing in pain.

Lotor laughs.

“You cannot fight me and the corruption, Keith!!”

“Quiznak, he’s right!”

Pidge sends the others the up-to-date scan of Keith’s quintessence.

“This fight is expediting Keith’s corruption exponentially!”

“Meaning?” Lance asks.

“It’s making him worse really fast!” Hunk translates.

Shiro grits his teeth as he watches them fight.

“We have to help him.”

Keith gets thrown backward once more as Lotor converts his left arm into a cannon and aims it at Keith. Keith comes to a sudden stop on something right before Lotor is hit by four tail lasers. 

Keith looks down to see the large muzzle of the Blue Lion.

He sends a quick appreciative look to Shiro inside before a yell from Lotor draws both of their attention. 

“You dare to interfere with our fight!”

“Sorry Legolas, but you mess with one of the Paladins, you get the whole Voltron!”

“Nice one, Lance!” Pidge tells him.

Lotor fires his cannon at the Blue Lion and Keith deflects the beam away from her before flying off after Lotor with a grunt of exertion.

Keith crosses his arms in front of him and arcs his fiery energy out in an X as he collides with Lotor; sending him flying backward into another space rock.

They exchange more blows across the debris field; the Lions aiding Keith in whatever way they can.

Keith moves to attack once more, but cries out in pain as his body seizes again. Lotor uses the moment to throw Keith into one of the medium sized pieces of the planet.

Keith tumbles across the rock and comes to a stop near the edge.

“The corruption has almost run its course!”

Lotor lands on the rock facing Keith. He aims his cannon at Keith as he looks up at Lotor with a pained expression.

“Allow me to end your misery!”

All four Lions appear behind Lotor suddenly with the Blue Lion in front; Shiro standing in her mouth.

“Leave. Him. Alone.”

Using Shiro's distraction, Keith awakens his luxite blade and slices off Lotor’s prosthetic arm.

Lotor cries out and stumbles toward the edge of the rock.

Mustering all his strength, Keith uses his jetpack to tackle Lotor off the rock with a yell.

He locks his arms around Lotor’s waist as they go. Keith sees a large asteroid below them as they fall. With a grunt he turns his jetpack on full blast toward the rock before slamming Lotor as hard as he can into the asteroid.

The Atlas pulls up then as Keith releases his hold on Lotor, who groans.

Keith staggers a few steps away before collapsing to the ground with a groan of his own.

Shiro jumps out of Blue’s mouth as soon as he’s close enough and runs the remaining distance to Keith’s side.

Keith’s eyes are closed and his breathing has become shallow as Shiro pulls him into his arms with his left arm supporting Keith’s head. Shiro's heart stops for a tic when he looks at the readout on Keith’s quintessence.

It’s completely black.

“No…”

He looks down at the man in his arms.

“No…"

The MFE pilots restrain Lotor as Matt, Coran, and Allura run to their side. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk come to stand near them while the rest of the bridge crew looks on.

Shiro gently turns Keith’s face toward him.

“Keith… Please hold on…”

Shiro looks up at Allura pleadingly.

“There must be _something_ you can do!”

“There is not…” Allura tells him with tears in her eyes. “The corruption is too great. He is dying.”

Shiro closes his eyes in anguish. He had already known the answer before he even asked, but still.

“Shiro…”

Shiro opens his eyes and sees Keith looking back at him tiredly, his purple eyes almost lifeless.

“I’m here, Keith…”

Shiro takes Keith's hand in his prosthetic as his vision starts to blur.

“I’m here…”

“I’m sorry…”

Shiro closes his eyes as a tear rolls down his face at Keith’s apology.

It seems like Keith is always apologizing for things that aren't his fault; like he feels his existence warrants an apology. 

He gently caresses Keith's cheek with his prosthetic.

“Shhh…” he hushes Keith shakily as more tears roll down his face. “This isn’t your fault, Keith… none of this was your fault…I should have...”

Keith looks up at him then with more love than Shiro feels he deserves.

“Shiro…”

Tears flow freely down Shiro's cheeks now.

"I'm so sorry, Keith... for everything… For pushing you away… for our fight… everything..."

Keith caresses Shiro’s face with his hand.

“It’s… gonna be ok…”

A sob leaves Shiro as he leans into Keith’s touch while covering it with his prosthetic.

“Please don’t leave me…” Shiro pleads brokenly. “Please… You’re all I have left, Keith… I need you...”

Keith rests his head against Shiro's arm.

“I love you…”

Keith turns his head into Shiro as his eyes close. He goes completely limp as his chest stills.

“Keith?" Shiro mutters brokenly. “Keith?!”

Lance tearfully holds Allura while Coran hugs Hunk and Matt hugs his sister.

“No… NO!”

Shiro pulls Keith’s lifeless body closer and wraps his arms around him.

“Not again! Please not again! Come back to me, Keith! I need you!”

He buries his face into Keith’s shoulder.

What more can this war take from him?! It’s taken his freedom, his mind, his hand, his life, his Lion, Adam… and now it’s taken Keith.

Shiro lifts his head and looks down at Keith.

“I’m so sorry… for everything… I…”

Shiro presses his lips into Keith’s forehead before pressing their foreheads together.

“I love you…”

Tears fall onto the younger man’s face as Shiro sobs bitterly; memories of Keith flashing it his mind as he does.

The day they met, showing him around the Garrison space ships, racing hover bikes in the desert, watching the sunset, at the Kerberos launch, standing outside Keith’s shack after he got back, forming Voltron with him, stranded on that planet together, learning Keith was part Galra, Keith being at his side when Shiro was brought back, planning the liberation of Earth, Keith holding Shiro after killing Sendak.

Shiro closes his eyes.

~

_He’s standing at his post on the Atlas when they see a ball of light rise into the sky._

_“Oh no…” he breathes as he watches it disappear into the sky._

_He frantically tries to make contact, the coms are only working halfway. They work just enough for Atlas to hear Keith, but not enough for Keith to even know they’re listening._

_“It’s been an honor flying with you all…”_

_Keith sounds so out of breath as he speaks._

_“Now everyone, GIVE IT EVERYTHING YOU GOT!”_

_A second later, the coms cut out completely._

_“I’m detecting a massive explosion in the upper atmosphere…” Veronica tells him, her voice shaking._

_“No…”_

_A second later, fireballs of red, yellow, green, blue, and purple fall from the sky._

_‘No…. no… no…’ he thinks over and over again._

_His eyes are glued to the purple fireball as it rumbles past the Atlas so close Shiro can make out the Black Lion’s wings before it hits the ground close enough for the impact to rock the Atlas._

_Atlas changes back into a ship._

_Shiro puts Iverson in charge of rescue efforts as he runs for the hatch._

_He opens it and stares at the smoking crater where the Black Lion landed not far away._

_He jumps off of Atlas and uses his jetpack to fly closer before landing hard on his knees a few yards away._

_He immediately gets up and runs to the edge of the crater._

_He stares in disbelief, breathing heavily as he takes in the sight of the Black Lion lying on his side like a wounded animal._

_“Keith…”_

_Shiro stumbles and slides as he runs down the sides of the crater toward the fallen Lion, falling once but getting back up once more. Fear grips his heart as it pounds in his chest._

_He runs around the Lion’s legs to its head and takes a running leaping into the Black Lion open mouth. With the Lion on his side, Shiro has to use his jetpack to fly through the open cockpit door._

_The smell of blood is the first thing that hits him when he goes inside. Shiro struggles to keep himself from going into a flashback or throwing up._

_Shiro stares in horror when he sees Keith lying limp as he hangs half out of his seat. There’s a pool of blood collecting on the console._

_Shiro flies to him and does a medical scan on Keith._

_Keith’s heart has stopped and he isn’t breathing._

_“NO!”_

_Shiro carefully lifts Keith into his arms._

_“No… Please no…”_

_He gently lays Keith out frantically searching the cabin for a defibrillator._

_He isn’t surprised when he doesn’t find one._

_Keith and Black had been captured by Sendak. They must have removed everything from the Black Lion when Keith was pulled out._

_“Damn you, Sanda!”_

_He drops to his knees beside Keith in despair._

_He gets an idea then._

_If the Altean diamond in his arm can bring the Atlas to life then maybe…_

_It’s crazy but..._

_He has nothing else to lose._

_Shiro quickly removes Keith’s breastplate and tears open his under armour before placing the palm of his Altean hand flat on Keith’s chest. Shiro sends a surge of energy through Keith’s body to jump-start Keith’s heart._

_Nothing._

_He repeats the action over and over as tears of desperation roll down his face with each attempt._

_“Come on, Keith! Fight! You can’t give up now! Not after everything we’ve been through!”_

_Sam, Iverson, Griffin, and a med crew come in at about the sixth or seventh try._

_“No!”_

_Shiro fights for all it’s worth as Iverson, Griffin, and Sam pull him away from Keith._

_“No please, let me go! This has to work!”_

_Shiro wrenches himself from them and goes back to deliver one final shock to Keith’s chest._

_“We have a heartbeat!”_

_“He’s breathing!”_

_He backs away as he watches the med crew put Keith on a stretcher and take him to the Garrison hospital._

~

Shiro suddenly opens his eyes and looks at his prosthetic.

“That’s it…”

"What's it?" Pidge asks him through her tears.

Shiro silently adjusts himself so he can lay Keith’s head across his lap before powering down his right arm.

“Shiro? What are you doing?” Allura asks him.

“I can save him…” he says with a ragged breath as he picks up his right arm with his left hand. “The diamond in my prosthetic…It’s saved him before… it can do it again...”

“Shiro, he’s dead, “Allura tells him gently. “Such an act would require not only the quintessence held within the diamond, but your entire prosthetic.”

“I already have a right arm. I don’t need another.”

“Shiro, you would not just lose your arm. Atlas would cease to be...”

“I. DO NOT. CARE.”

Shiro lays his prosthetic on top of Keith.

“I’ve already seen what a universe without Keith is like and I want no part of it.”

The prosthetic starts to glow with white quintessence before it turns to vapor and disappears into Keith. Soon Keith himself starts to glow with white quintessence.

Suddenly, Keith’s eyes open. They glow with the same light as he takes in a deep gasp for air. When the light fades, his eyes go back to their normal color.

The four Lions on the space rock roar loudly.

Inside Atlas, Red’s roar echoes throughout the ship; making Krolia smile as she lay in medbay.

Keith takes several more gasps of air and Shiro swears he’s never heard a more beautiful sound.

Keith opens his eyes briefly to look at Shiro adoringly.

"Shiro..."

He closes his eyes once more and drifts off to sleep in Shiro’s arms.

Griffin approaches them.

“Let’s get him to medbay,” he says as he picks Keith up to carry him to the Atlas for Shiro. Shiro picks up Keith’s blade as he follows them.


	12. Blazing Sword

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Keith is placed into an induced coma following his ordeal with Honerva, the Paladins get aid from an old ally to help him. The Paladins must venture into Keith's mind to save him, but none of them are going like what they see.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OBLIGATORY DISCLAIMER AND CONTENT WARNING: THE FOLLOWING CHAPTER TALKS ABOUT SOME VERY SENSITIVE SUBJECTS; DEPRESSION, SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, AND ATTEMPTED SUICIDE. THERE WILL ALSO BE HINTS AT CHILD ABUSE, NEGLECT, AND CHILDHOOD TRAUMA! READER DISCRETION IS ADVISED. 
> 
> If you or someone you know is in crisis or having thoughts about suicide, please call the Suicide Prevention hotline in your country. For the States it's 1-800-273-8255 or text HOME to 741741 if you feel more comfortable texting than talking on the phone.

Shiro sits beside Keith’s cryo-pod three days after the Battle for the Red Lion. His right arm still hasn’t been replaced.

~Flashback~

A day after the battle, the cryopod opens after healing Keith’s injuries. Suddenly, for no apparent reason, Keith mysteriously starts convulsing.

Matt and Hunk immediately tackle Shiro to the ground and hold onto him to keep him from hurting himself or the med team as they work. When they place Keith back into the pod, it stops.

The rest of the Paladins, the Holts, and Coran hug Shiro as he falls apart.

~

Since then, Shiro hasn’t left Keith’s side except to use the restroom.

Iverson and the Holts join Shiro.

“Any changes?” Matt asks as he and Pidge stand beside Shiro’s chair.

“Nothing,” Shiro tells him sadly.

“By all accounts, Keith _should_ be fine,” Sam states. "Nothing on any of the scans I've run has detected anything that could have caused the convulsions.

“Which means Honerva did something to him when she had him,” Pidge states with a frown.

They fall into silence for a few tics.

“Princess Allura gave Garrison Command quite the tongue lashing when they dared to question your decision to defer leadership to her for the time being,” Colleen tells him in amusement. “It’s not every day I get to see a room full of hardened military officers get completely cowed by a single woman.”

Shiro smiles at that.

“Allura’s a force to be reckoned with if you piss her off,” Shiro says affectionately as Pidge nods in agreement. “Besides, they’re the ones who made her rank equal to mine. Even if it was a PR stunt, they still made her equal to a Garrison captain and I know I won’t be able to do the job with Keith like this. I won’t put work before Keith ever again.”

“They’re also not happy that you gave up the ability to transform Atlas to save Keith,” Iverson tells him.

“Of course they aren’t…” Shiro says bitterly. “It’s Keith. Why should they be happy he _isn’t_ dead; nevermind that he’s the Black Paladin?”

Iverson looks at Shiro.

“Adam regretted his part in Keith’s expulsion, you know…” Iverson tells him gently. “It’s something that haunted him until the day he died…”

“Again I ask; was this before or after Keith was proven right?”

“Does it matter?” Iverson asks.

“ **Yes it does!** ” Shiro growls. “Because if it was after he was proven right, that means had I not returned to Earth; you **both** would still be patting yourselves on the back for condemning him to either a prison sentence he was framed for or a life where he’d either die of starvation or be forced to steal in order to survive because he couldn’t find a job! So again; was it **before** or _after_ Keith turned out to be right?”

“I can’t speak for Adam, but for me it was before,” Iverson tells him honestly. "Him being proven right just made it worse."

Iverson leaves not long after and all four Holts stand quietly beside Shiro as he continues his vigil over Keith.

~

_Shiro and Sam follow the med team as they bring Keith immediately into the OR. Sam and Colleen remain with him since Pidge hasn’t been brought in yet._

_They’re with him both times Keith’s heart stops and Shiro swears both times his own heart stops with it._

_Sam and Colleen hold Shiro both times as he sobs; begging to be let in, begging Keith to not give up, pleading with whatever higher power is listening that Keith won’t be taken from him._

_When Keith slips into a coma immediately after they revive him the third time, they follow him as Shiro drops to the floor in tears._

~

“As long as I live… I don’t think I’ll ever be able to forgive them for what they did to Keith…” Shiro confides to them angrily.

“Know the feeling,” Matt admits as his dad nods in agreement.

Shiro raises an eyebrow at them.

“I still can’t believe they threw you under the quiznaking bus to cover up what happened to us,” Sam says angrily without looking at Shiro.

“Seriously, that was low!” Matt adds.

“As soon as I get back home from this,” Shiro begins as he looks down at Keith again. “I’m not going to stop until every single one of the people involved in Keith’s setup gets court martialed, stripped of their command, and then fired. I’ll go to the press if I have to. I don't care if I lose my job over it too. Let them suffer the fate they wanted to give Keith."

“Considering the number of Garrison High Command officers currently sitting in Atlas' brig, I’d say this weed has deep roots,” Pidge comments.

“I’ll happily help you take them down,” Sam tells him. “The resistance I got when I enrolled you was ridiculous and that house arrest nonsense when I got back was absolutely absurd.”

“Not to mention, how much they fought us when we were trying to liberate Earth,” Pidge adds angrily.

“You could also sue the Galaxy Garrison as a whole for defamation of character since it was _your_ name they sullied with that “pilot error” nonsense while we’re on the subject of bringing the Garrison to justice,” Colleen points out to him.

“If you use your status as one of Earth's liberators and a war hero, you might even get an advantage,” Matt points out.

“Aren’t you guys supposed to be talking me **out** of this instead of playing devil’s advocate?” Shiro asks in amusement.

“No way!” Pidge and Matt say at the same time.

“Not when you’re in the right,” Colleen points out.

"Actions have consequences," Sam tells him. "It's high time the Galaxy Garrison suffer some."

~

“There must be a way to learn what Honerva did to Keith,” Romelle insists as she sits in the briefing room with Allura, Coran, Hunk, and Lance. “The longer it takes for us to help him, the sooner Honerva can reorganize and attack us.”

“Indeed, we’ve been fortunate to have her on the run for the time being,” Coran points out. “For now, having Lotor and the Sincline in our custody is likely keeping her at bay, but it’s only a matter of time before she tries to come for him.”

“Lotor! He might know something that’ll help,” Hunk points out.

“Yeah, but he’s a blank right now!” Lance says. “He has no idea who he or anyone else is.”

“There **is** one way…” Allura says thoughtfully. “I should be able to restore his true memories.”

“It’s the only solution we have right now,” Coran agrees. “But it should work.”

~

They all head to Lotor's cell where Kolivan, Krolia, and Acxa have been standing ever since Keith was placed in a coma. They aren’t guarding him because of the potential threat Lotor poses, however.

If Keith dies, Lotor won't be far behind.

“We have an idea,” Hunk tells them.

Lotor looks up at Allura like a child would if they see someone they find pretty.

Allura places her hands on either side of Lotor’s head and focuses.

As she restores his true memories, she sees them in quick succession in her own mind.

She sees him growing up in the Galra Empire thinking his mom died, sees him growing up despising his father and his people and low-key hating himself in the process, sees him on the colony he spoke of, befriending them, working with them, then sees Zarkon scolding him for it and him being knocked out. She then sees him wake up to find the colony in flames. She sees him get exiled, during which time he finds and locates the Alteans he puts in the colony hidden in the quantum abyss. She learns he genuinely _did_ want to protect them and keep them safe. For many millennia he protects them dutifully.

Then the colony started to get overcrowded.

Rather than inform the colony of the problem, Lotor sought a solution on his own. After thinking long and hard, Lotor decided to select members of the colony, at random, and place them in cryopods in stasis. His plan was to restore them again, once it was safe to do so. He used the guise of a second colony so the Alteans would be more willing. The cryo-pods were placed on a nearby moon. 

Then he gets called away to play stand-in emperor not long after Bandor's group of Alteans were selected.

After he returns, Lotor senses something amiss when he sees the way Bandor looked when he escaped. 

He went back to check on the facility to find that in the short span of time where Lotor was Emperor, Haggar had somehow found the Alteans on the moon. It was HAGGAR who was draining their quintessence and then sending the quintessence to her lab so she could study it. The shipment was under Lotor's name, which is why the Blades thought it was his. That’s what awoke Bandor.

Instead of being honest with the colony about what happened or even moving the colony, Lotor kept it a secret. Since then he was searching for a way to replenish the quintessence Haggar had drained from the colonists on the moon.

That’s why he wanted to get into the quintessence field. It's also why he allied with them in the first place. The enemy of my enemy and all that.

His methods were questionable, but given how he grew up under Emperor Zarkon, he likely didn't know any better. 

However misguided, his intentions **were** noble.

When his memories are fully restored, they pull away from each other. 

Allura immediately gives him a hug.

“I am sorry I didn't hear you out!"

“In hindsight, hiding what my intentions were and what the Witch was doing from you _might_ **not** have been the wisest course of action,” Lotor tells her lightheartedly. “So... I apologize as well.”

She laughs and pulls away from him.

“Look, we’re all _very_ happy Legolas isn’t quite the jerk we thought he was,” Lance begins flatly, “But can we **please** get back to the more pressing issue at hand!”

Allura remembers and immediately turns to Lotor.

“What did Honerva do to Keith?"

~

Shiro and the Holts turn when they hear Lotor enter the room.

Shiro immediately stands up and steps protectively in front of Keith’s cryopod as Matt and Pidge step in front of him with their weapons drawn.

“It’s ok! Lotor’s on our side again!” Hunk calls out as he runs in then with Lance and Allura.

“He is?” Matt asks as Krolia, Acxa, and Romelle enter behind them.

The others all stand down, but Shiro remains where he is.

“Your suspicions are warranted, but time is limited!” Lotor tells Shiro. “The witch placed a rift creature in Keith’s mind so she could control him. It is how she was able to kill Rafron, Luca, and Moira from a distance.”

“Is that what she’s trying to do to Keith now?” Hunk asks.

“In a sense. Keith was undoubtedly fighting her back. He resisted the rift creature's influence for quite some time before succumbing to it. The pod has stopped her from killing him outright so the rift creature itself is trying to do so for her.”

“Why?” Pidge asks.

“It is in the creature’s nature… Somehow… Even the witch is unsure as to why.”

“So, how do we save him?” Shiro asks.

“If you wish to help him, you will need a way to journey into his mind. There it may be confronted and slain,” Lotor states.

Coran snaps his fingers.

“I may have just the thing!”

He leaves and comes back with five mindmeld devices.

“I thought those only allowed us to _see_ into each other’s mind,” Pidge says in confusion.

“They can do more than that, Number 5,” Coran tells her.

“There is a setting that allows one to mentally enter the mind of another,” Allura says suddenly, realizing what he has planned. “Brilliant, Coran!”

“Yeah, but the problem is there are only 5 of them,” Hunk points out. “And wouldn’t we have to open the pod to place one on his head?”

“Not necessarily,” Coran tells them. “The pod itself acts as a mindmeld device.”

“So five people can travel into Keith’s mind to help him?” Krolia asks.

“I’m going,” Shiro says firmly. “I won’t sit on the sidelines anymore, especially when Keith needs me.”

Krolia gives him an appreciative and approving look.

“I think all five of us should do this,” Lance says speaking for himself and the other Paladins. “Just like I told Lotor; mess with one of the Paladins, you get the whole Voltron.”

“Then we should begin quickly before it is too late,” Allura says.

“We can use the empty medbay beds while we’re doing this,” Pidge suggests.

“Are we seriously doing this?” Hunk asks. “I mean, I’m 100% on board with this, but I do want to point out that Keith is super private about his thoughts.”

“I would prefer to suffer Keith’s displeasure than his loss,” Allura tells him.

“Let me just make a few adjustments,” Coran says as he messes with the five devices quickly. “Alright, everyone grab your devices.”

“Something else to remember as you do this,” Lotor begins as they all grab a mindmeld device before picking one of the five beds around Keith's cryopod. “When you locate the rift creature, it will have taken the form of the thing Keith hates the most.”

Shiro lays back on the bed next to Keith after placing the device on his head and looks over at Keith.

“Hang on, Keith… I’m coming…”

Shiro turns forward.

One by one, they all close their eyes and concentrate.

~

_When Pidge opens her eyes, she’s in an elementary school library with what looks like a second grade class._

_She smiles when she sees Keith as a child sitting at a table reading what looks like a book about early space travel._

_“My, what an interesting book you have Keith,” the librarian tells him. “Can you tell me about it?”_

_Keith doesn’t answer._

_“Keith?”_

_After two more attempts, Keith finally notices her._

_He’d been so engrossed, he hadn’t heard her speaking to him._

_“I’m sorry, did you ask me something?” he asks without looking up._

_“It’s ok, I know a good book can do that to you,” the librarian tells him sagely, making Pidge nod in agreement. “I was wondering if you could tell me about the book you’re reading.”_

_“It’s about the space race of the 1950s and 60s,” Keith tells her. “This talks about the math Katherine Johnson did to get the Atlas rocket that John Glenn used into orbit.”_

_“Fascinating.”_

_The memory changes and she’s in a house._

_She looks around and spots a slightly older Keith getting picked on by some bigger kids._

_“Give it back!”_

_Keith tries to grab what looks like his knife from the kid holding it above his head._

_“Come and get it, half-pint!”_

_“What’s a 12 year old need a knife for anyway?”_

Pidge gasps in surprise.

 _Keith_ **_does not_ ** _look 12, he looks 9._

_She takes a closer look at him and sees he’s in a red shirt and shorts. He’s practically skin and bones._

_She does the math and realizes this must be when he was at the Group Home._

“He must not be getting enough of food here,” Pidge comments to herself sadly. “Or if he is, it’s not very nutritious. Stunted child’s growth is a major sign of malnutrition and starvation.” 

_“None of your business! It’s mine! Give it back!”_

_Keith is jumping for the knife as the bully holds the knife above his head._

_“Make me, Runt!”_

“No, don't tell him that...” Pidge tells the kid.

_Sure enough, Keith jumps on the bully with his knife and starts punching him in the face._

_“Get him offa me!” the brat shrieks as Keith wails on him._

_The bully’s friend runs away to tell someone._

_Sensing the incoming danger, Keith grabs his knife and hauls ass away from the bully as the caretaker of the Group Home comes in._

_It skips forward to that night, where she sees Keith open a window and climb out with a backpack before running away._

_The memory changes and Keith is now 16. Even though Keith looks about 13, Pidge knows he’s 16 because he’s wearing a Garrison cadet uniform with one stripe._

_He’s sitting alone at lunch at the Garrison. Some of the other kids are whispering and pointing at him, two of which she recognizes as a 15 year old Lance and Hunk._

_She can hear everything they’re saying about him and she can tell by the look on Keith’s face that he can too._

_It changes again and Keith is walking alone outside when a group of older kids jump him. She sees him defend himself only to be hauled into Admiral Sanda’s office for fighting. The next time Keith gets jumped, he only braces himself to take the hits without getting seriously injured._

_It reminds Pidge of how Keith would always jump in front of her when she was about to take a hit from a sentry or a Galra soldier or even one of the gladiators on the Castle’s training deck. She always found it odd that he knew how to take a hit and just brush it off. Now she gets it and the truth behind it breaks her heart._

_The memory changes again._

_Keith is in the viewing room as the Kerberos shuttle takes off and he's crying. She feels like she's in the twilight zone as she watches her long haired self hand Keith a tissue box._

"I remember this!" Pidge states.

 _She sees herself put the tissue box down near him and walks off before_ _Keith picks up the tissue box and walks off._

_The memory changes again and now Keith's staring at the TV in the Garrison Lounge as the Keroberos crew is declared missing and presumed dead. Then they start saying “pilot error” and Keith's expression immediately morphs into a glare._

_Pidge watches the next few memories as everyone from cadets to instructors to commanders and admirals all turn on Keith worse than they did when it became known that he was part Galra._

_She sees him with a flashlight in Iverson’s office looking through a filing cabinet when he finds a folder with the words Kerberos Investigation written on the tab._

_Pidge looks over Keith’s shoulder as Keith opens it and sees color pictures of the crew working when suddenly they look up and run from something. Then a purple light is seen in the direction they ran in, what Pidge knows is a Galra tractor beam._

_Pidge’s jaw drops._

“No wonder he was set up!”

_The light suddenly turns on and Pidge sees Iverson in the doorway._

_She knows from personal experience how this will probably play out._

_“You! How did you get in here?!”_

_Keith looks at him defiantly._

_“There is_ **_no way_ ** _this could have been a pilot error! They weren’t even flying!”_

_Keith throws the folder onto Iverson’s desk._

_“You people are ruining Shiro’s name and reputation for no reason!”_

_“The contents of that folder is classified information!”_

_Iverson steps forward and grabs Keith’s arm the same way he did Pidge and throws him out of his office._

_“I should have you charged with treason and expelled!”_

_“Where’s Shiro?!”_

_With all the sensitivity of a chainsaw, Iverson responds._

_“Takashi Shirogane is dead!”_

_“He’s not dead!” Keith argues as the same guard who kicked her out of the building pulls him away._

_“Take him to his dorm."_

_Keith gives Iverson a look of pure hatred as he’s dragged down the hall_ _._

_“You can’t hide this from me! Shiro’s not dead! I’ll find him! I’ll never stop!”_

~

_Lance opens his eyes and sees he’s outside a stadium._

_He looks around and sees a 4 year old Keith riding on the shoulders of a man who can only be Keith’s father. In Keith’s small hand is a pendant with the name of a baseball team on it and on his mullet covered head (did his hair just naturally grow that way?) was a baseball cap._

_“Hey Keith, I say Diamond and you say Backs, ok?!” His dad says. “Diamond?”_

_Keith blinks down at his dad._

_“Diamondbacks?”_

_His dad chuckles._

_“No son, the chant includes the instructions. You’re supposed to split the word into two.”_

_“Why split the word in two at all?” Keith asks in confusion. “Why not just keep it together? It's easier. I don’t understand.”_

_Keith’s dad laughs gently._

_“It’s ok Buddy, your mom didn’t get split chants either.”_

_His dad thinks for a moment before getting an idea._

_“What team is it?!"_

_“Diamondbacks!” Keith chants immediately._

_“There we go!”_

“I get it now…” Lance mutters to himself. “It was the chant that needed to change…” 

_The memory changes._

_It looks like Keith’s in kindergarten. It must be free playtime because the kids are all spread out across the room doing different things. He sees Keith sitting off to the side by himself playing happily with what looks like a toy Atlas rocket._

_Lance sees a teacher walk to the front of the room._

_“Ok class, it's circle time! Put the toys away.”_

_The rest of the class does as they’re told but Keith doesn’t stop playing with the toy rocket._

_“Keith honey, it’s time to put your toy rocket away in your bag for circle time.”_

_Once again, Keith doesn’t respond._

_“Keith, it’s time to clean up.” She says more sternly. “Put your toy back in your backpack.”_

_Lance takes a closer look at Keith._

_He doesn’t look like he’s trying ignoring her. Lance knows how to tell from back in the early days of being a Paladin when Lance would try to get a rise out of Keith. Keith looks more like he usually did whenever he was super focused on something._

_Apparently this teacher didn’t make that connection because the next thing Lance sees is the teacher frowning before marching over to Keith and taking the toy away from him. As Lance expected, Keith startles like he was in his own little world._

_She then grabs him by the wrist and up off the rug where he was sitting._

_“Wha?!”_

_Keith blinks his big purple eyes as she drags him to what looks like a time out chair and puts him in it._

_“Keith, you are in time out for not following directions," the teacher tells him as he looks at the floor. "Keith, look at me when I'm talking to you!”_

_Keith looks up at the teacher quickly before looking back at the floor. Lance can tell Keith is trying to look up at her, but he can also see how uncomfortable it is._

_Once again, the teacher doesn’t seem to notice._

_“I said look at me!” the teacher tells him sharply making Lance take a protective step forward before remembering this was a memory._

_Just like before, Keith looks at her quickly before averting his gaze once more._

_“I’m going to have to talk to your father about how uncooperative you are! This isn’t the first time you’ve blatantly refused to follow directions!”_

_The teacher walks away from Keith, who is still looking confused as to what he did wrong that got him put in time out._

_The memory changes to later in the day._

_Keith is sitting in a chair while the teacher talks to Keith’s father. His father picks up Keith’s things, collects Keith, and walks out the door._

_“Hey buddy,” his father begins gently. “I hear you had a rough day at school today.”_

_“I don’t know what I did,” Keith admits with tears in his eyes without looking at his dad. “She said I ignored her but I wasn’t. I didn’t know she was talking to me until she took my rocket.”_

_“I know, son,” his dad tells him understandingly. “I’ve had enough of these conversations to realize you never intend to do most of the things you get in trouble for.”_

_His dad thinks for a moment._

_“Hey, it's Friday. You want to go see the jets over at the museum before we go camping this weekend?”_

_Keith smiles and nods without looking at his dad._

_“Alright! Museum, here we come!”_

_The memory changes and he’s in first or second grade. Even though Keith’s older, he’s wearing a similar red shirt to the one he wore in kindergarten, only this one has a picture of an Atlas rocket on it._

_“Alright kids, Mother’s Day is coming soon so why don’t we make cards for your moms,” his teacher suggests._

_Lance watches Keith carefully fold a piece of paper in half and draw a spaceship on it._

_It’s a badly drawn spaceship, but Lance can tell it’s supposed to be a space ship because literally every single personal school thing of Keith’s that could possibly have anything space related or a spaceship on it has one. His lunch box has a picture of Space Shuttle Discovery, his pencil box has a (very nice looking) red and purple nebula on the cover, his backpack has little planets and rockets on it, his notebook, ruler, and even his shirt all have pictures of a rocket ship of some kind._

_Across the front he writes, “Happy Mother’s Day, Pop”._

_It makes complete sense to Lance. Keith’s dad is the only parent he’s ever known and Keith has the logic of a Vulcan so of course he would make a Mother’s Day card for his dad. Who else does he have to make a card for?_

_“What a lovely card, Keith,” the teacher’s aide tells him._

_Just like with the rocket ship in kindergarten, Keith doesn’t answer as he opens the card and draws planets and stars before writing a generic Happy Mother’s Day message to his Dad._

_“It’s very nice that you want to give a card to your Dad, Keith,” the teacher’s aide tells him. “But you were told to make a card for your mom.”_

_“I don’t have a mom,” Keith tells him bluntly._

_“Oh…”_

“What do you mean ‘oh’?” Lance asks her indignantly. “Why else would he be making a Mothers’ Day card for his dad?!” 

_“Keith, it wasn’t very polite to tell her like that,” his teacher scolds him._

“Neither was commenting on who he chooses to write a Mother’s Day Card for; yet here we are!”

 _“It’s not polite to ask why I’m making a card for my Pop either,” Keith points out without looking up._

_At one time, Lance would have confused that for Keith being a smartass, but now that he’s gotten to know him he’s come to see that’s just how he talks._

_Lance isn’t surprised when the teacher doesn’t seem to realize that._

_“Keith! That’s rude! Go sit in time out!”_

_What does surprise Lance is Keith’s reaction. He recognizes the look of sad resignation on Keith’s face from when the officers and cadets were talking about Keith behind his back._

_Keith silently gets up and goes to sit in time out._

_Later on the playground._

_“Keith made a Mother’s Day card for his Dad instead of his Mom!” Lance hears a kid laugh to the other kids. “What an idiot!”_

_Lance isn’t one bit surprised when Keith punches him._

_He remembers the comment Griffin made when they were cadets that got him punched and realizes Griffin kinda deserved that punch._

_“Keith!”_

_Their teacher runs up and pulls Keith off the brat._

“He started it!” Lance yells uselessly _._

_Keith just looks away._

_“Principal’s office!”_

_Once again, Keith just quietly goes without argument._

_How often was it that something like this would happen to Keith for him to just tacitly accept it rather than fight back?_

_“What is wrong with that boy?”_

_“Such a violent child.”_

_Lance remembers before and even after he was diagnosed with dyslexia how several teachers would sometimes mutter that he was either stupid or “slow” or lazy because he couldn't learn to read._

“You know what? Screw you two!”

~

_Hunk opens his eyes and he’s in a bedroom with spaceships, rockets, and jets everywhere and on everything. All the model jets and spaceships were perfectly arranged. On the ceiling are those glow-in-the-dark stars._

_It’s dark but Hunk can still make out the shape of a little boy no more than 6 years old sleeping in bed holding a toy Atlas rocket like a stuffed animal._

“Aw!! Little Keith was so adorable!!” Hunk gushes. 

_A clap of thunder shakes the house then._

_Keith awakens with a start. A bolt of lightning lights up the room followed by another rumble of thunder that has little Keith screaming and running to hide in his closet, taking his comforter and rocket with him._

_Keith’s door opens soon after and Hunk sees who he assumes is Keith’s dad enter the room with some glowsticks and some kind of mixed breed dog at his side (it looked like a cross between a collie and a dalmatian). They walk straight to the closet like this isn’t the first time this has happened._

_His dad opens it gently showing Keith huddled in the corner with his comforter wrapped around himself and his hands over his ears. Tears are rolling down his face._

_“Loud!”_

_“I’m sorry the thunder scared you, Keith…” Keith’s dad says calmly. “You want me to sit here with you?”_

_Keith nods._

_“Alright,” his dad says as he sits down outside the closet with the dog laying next to them with its head in Keith's lap._

_“Is it ok if I touch you?”_

_Keith shakes his head._

_“Alright, that’s fine,” his dad tells him. “You’re clearly overwhelmed so we’ll just sit here until you feel like coming out, ok? Want a glowstick?”_

_Keith nods and his dad puts a glowstick near him._

“Aw!! Daddy Kogane is the best daddy!” Hunk says in tears.

_For several minutes they just sit quietly in Keith’s room as rain starts pounding the roof while the thunder continues to rumble outside._

_After a while, Keith sticks out his hand for his dad to hold, which his dad takes._

_“It’s alright, buddy. Just take your time.”_

_After a particularly loud roar of thunder, Keith all but jumps into his dad’s arms and koala hugs him fiercely in tears._

_“It’s ok, Keith!”_

_His dad rocks him gently while the dog shifts so that its head is resting on Keith's dad's knee._

_“I’m scared of thunder…” Keith tells his dad when he stops trembling._

_“I know you are, son.” his dad tells him as he rocks him. “You’re very brave to admit that.”_

_“I’m not brave…" Keith mumbles. “I’m scared of stupid things like the school bell and the fire alarm, the way the chairs squeak on the floor at school, and thunder, and anything that makes a really loud noise…”_

“Hey, fire alarms are scary, ok!” Hunk argues. “No one WANTS to hear a fire alarm go off! That usually means something bad is happening!” 

_“Yet you still go to school every day, even though you know you’re going to hear the school bell and the chairs squeaking on the floor,” his dad tells him. “To be brave is to go on in spite of fear…”_

_Hunk gasps._

_That’s what Keith told him during his pep talk before he helped Hunk go find his parents._

_“A wise woman once said, “Stay afraid, but do it anyway.”_

_“You’re the only one who thinks so…” Keith mumbles._

_“And I always will,” his dad promises._

_The memory changes then and when the new one comes into focus, Hunk feels his heart break instantly._

_Keith’s older, about 8 from the looks of him, but Hunk can tell that something awful happened and he can guess what._

_He’s in a room with bare white walls that doesn’t have jets with a bed that doesn’t have rocket ships on the covers and a ceiling without glow-in-the-dark stars and no Atlas rocket to sleep with at night._

_This must be after his dad died._

_Just like in the first memory he saw, it’s storming. Just like in the first memory, Keith is hiding inside a closet with a comforter wrapped around himself. Only this time, there’s no dad to sit with him with a glowstick, no dad to coax him out of the closet or hold his hand, and no dog to rest its head in Keith's lap._

_Tears well in Hunks eyes for a different reason as he watches Keith curl in on himself and cry while clutching the vest Shiro used to wear against his chest._

~

_Allura opens her eyes and sees she’s in front of a farmhouse on Earth with a tire swing and a barn._

_She smiles when she sees a 5 year old Keith helping his dad fix a hoverbike while music is playing. Afterward he helps his dad cook dinner and helps him wash and dry the dishes afterward, all while music is playing with a dog sitting beside him wagging its tail. Later, Keith and his dad are playing in the front yard of the house before laying on their backs, looking up at the stars with his dad pointing out constellations in the sky while the dog lays on its back next to them._

_The memory changes then and Allura finds herself in a large building that says Museum of Flight._

_She giggles as she sees a 6 year old Keith dragging his dad everywhere and eagerly pointing out different jets and space ships while rambling off some information about it, including one called an Atlas rocket. Afterward, they go home, pack up a couple backpacks and head out on the hoverbike into the desert with their dog._

_They pitch a tent and his dad cooks dinner while Keith helps. After dinner, Keith helps him clean up and they look at the stars some more with the dog before going to bed. In the morning they pack up the tent and head further into the desert to a trail into a canyon area. They leave the bike at the trailhead and hike through the canyon._

_Occasionally they’d stop for food or water or for Keith’s dad to point something out to him._

_“I like it out here,” Keith says as they walk. “It’s quiet.”_

_“That’s living out in the desert for you,” his dad tells him. “Plenty of space to hear yourself think.”_

_“Or not talk to people,” Keith adds._

_“I’m the same way, son,” his dad tells him. “Not everyone has to be a social butterfly.”_

_“Everyone keeps calling me a lone wolf,” Keith tells him as he pets the dog._

_“See, I hate that phrase. Wolves are pack animals, that’s naturally how they are. Calling someone a lone wolf implies that the way they are is wrong, and that’s not true. There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be around people all the time but there’s also nothing wrong with preferring to be alone, or mostly alone in our case…”_

_He shoots Keith a smile and, even though Keith doesn’t look up at him Allura and his dad can both tell he's smiling._

_“So what phrase do you like?”_

_“I prefer the phrase ‘lone mountain lion’,” his dad explains. “Mountain lions are naturally solitary animals. The only times they really interact with each other is to mate, fight for territory, or a mother with cubs. There’s nothing wrong with it because that’s naturally how they are. Same with people like us.”_

_“So basically some people are cats and others are dogs?”_

_His dad laughs._

_“I never thought of it like that but yeah that’s one way to look at it.”_

_The memory changes then._

_Keith’s older and his dad is tucking him into bed with their dog laying down at the foot of his bed._

_“Night, buddy.”_

_“Night, Pop."_

_“I have to head into the station but I should be home before you wake up. You know how to reach the station if there's a problem.”_

_“Ok, Pop.”_

_“I love you, Keith,” his dad tells him as he kisses him good night._

_“Love you too, Pop.”_

_Then it's morning and Keith wakes up._

_He looks at the clock in his room and it reads 9am. Keith frowns._

_“Odd…it’s a school day. Pop usually has me up by now.”_

“Oh no…” Allura breathes, getting a bad feeling as she remembers what Keith told her on Arus.

_Keith leaves his room with the dog at his side._

_“Pop?”_

_Allura’s bad feeling gets worse when he looks in his father’s room to find he isn’t there and only grows when he looks downstairs to no avail._

_Keith walks out the door with the dog to check the barn when he sees a car pull up._

_When the car door opens, a man in a blue shirt with a large shield with an F on it gets out of the car._

_“Chief? Where’s Pop?”_

_“I’m sorry, son…”_

_Keith blinks._

_“What happened?”_

_“There was a house fire last night,” Chief begins. “Your father managed to get the two kids out but he went back in for their parents. We all told him not to but you know your dad... Anyway, the house came down before any of them could get out.”_

_Keith doesn’t respond and his expression looks neutral but Allura can tell from her own experiences that his world is shattering._

_The memory changes then and Keith is sniffling in his room as he packs a suitcase with clothes._

_He leaves the room with his dog at his side and stops outside his dad’s room on the way back downstairs. He glances downstairs to check something._

_Keith motions for the dog to stay and watch the door before running into the room and grabbing a handful of things; the knife, a set of clothes Allura recognizes as the outfit Shiro used to wear complete with boots, and two sets of fingerless gloves. One set is the pair Shiro used to wear._

_The other is the pair Keith wears now._

_Keith walks down the stairs to where Chief is waiting with a woman in a suit by a car._

_"Bye, Stella..."_

_Keith sniffles as he hugs the dog. The dog gives him a lick when he lets go._

_"Don't worry, son. The station will take good care of Stella," Chief promises as he takes the dog's leash._

_Keith then gets in the car and they drive away._

_The memory changes to him entering a house that reads “Plant City Children’s Home”._

_He isn’t crying but Allura can tell by the tear tracks on his face that he had been._

_The only adult in the home tries to give Keith a hug and Keith immediately sidesteps them. When they try to force him to hug them, he kicks them and runs away from them to stand off to the side when the person lets him go._

_“Keith, that’s not nice! He’s trying to give you a hug,” the lady dropping him off scolds him._

_“No hugs!!”_

_“I don’t know what kind of household you came from that doesn’t hug, but in this house we hug each other,” the man tells him._

_“I don’t hug strangers!” Keith tells him. “The only person allowed to hug me is my Pop!”_

_“You’re going to die alone and unloved with that attitude!” the lady in the suit tells him with a sniff. “I’m starting to think it’s a good thing your father died.”_

“WHAT THE QUIZNAK IS WRONG WITH YOU, YOU HORRIBLE, HORRIBLE PERSON?!”

_Allura then hears a horrific screeching sound that snaps her heart in two before Keith runs at the lady and starts throwing punches and kicks at her. It takes Allura all of a tic to realize the screeching is Keith screaming with rage._

_The guy who runs the home drags Keith away from the lady who then flees._

“Quiznaking coward…”

_Allura looks back at Keith who is still kicking and screaming at the guy trying to hug him._

_“LEMME GO!” Keith screams over and over again and each cry from him sends another crack into her heart._

_She expects the guy to continue hugging him or to maybe let him go._

_What she_ **_doesn’t_ ** _expect is for the guy to backhand Keith._

_She takes a step forward and has to remind herself it’s a memory._

_“That’s enough of that!” he scolds as Keith stares up at him in shock as he clutches his cheek. “There’ll be no tantrums in this household. Understand?!”_

_The look Keith gives the man is one of pure hatred._

_The memory changes to night and her vision blurs when she sees Keith curled up in bed crying himself to sleep while hugging his father’s vest to his chest because it probably smells like him._

~

_Shiro opens his eyes and he immediately recognizes the Kerberos Launch pad and rocket._

_He turns and sees his younger self showing Keith around the platform and hears the promise Keith made to wait for him and Shiro promise to always come back to him._

_Suddenly he’s inside the viewing room as they countdown the launch._

_Shiro looks behind him and sees Pidge with long hair standing with Dr. Holt and Bae Bae._

_The shuttle launches while he is and Shiro hears the sound of something hitting the Plexiglas._

_He looks back at Keith and sees Keith’s fist against it as Keith looks at the ground. Shiro sees drops of water land on the window and realizes Keith’s crying._

“Keith…”

_Suddenly there’s a tissue box being held out to Keith._

_Shiro looks up and smiles when he sees Pidge holding the box._

_She doesn’t say anything and Keith doesn’t look up at her or accept it but Shiro can tell he knows she’s there and it looks like she can tell too._

_She quietly sets the box down on the windowsill and walks away. After a minute Keith takes the box and leaves the room._

_It changes to Keith and Griffin’s dorm._

_Keith is curled up in the fetal position on his bunk facing the wall. Shiro’s heart aches when he sees the tear tracks on Keith’s face._

_The door opens and Shiro sees Griffin come through the door with a plate of food and some water._

_“Here’s some more food if you feel like eating today,” Griffin tells him as he sets it on the bedside table._

_Shiro frowns before looking at the calendar and sees its 4 days after the Kerberos Launch._

_Shiro thinks back to the day of the launch and remembers taking Keith out to breakfast before heading to the platform. The launch was at noon and there had been a small buffet style brunch given to everyone on the crew and their families._

_Did Keith not eat anything for a while after that? For how long?_

_“I have today’s homework for you too.”_

_Did Keith not go to class for a few days either?_

_Griffin sighs._

_“Keith, you know you could have just asked him to stay if you hated him leaving so much…”_

_“No I couldn’t…” Keith tells him without turning around or looking at him. “I could never do that...”_

_“Why not?” Griffin asks in exasperation._

_“Because it’s Shiro’s dream… He’s wanted this for as long as he can remember… Because this is his last chance to go into space before he’s forced to stay on the ground… because no one else believes he can do it…”_

_Keith wipes the sleeve of his shirt across his face as he sniffles._

_“Because he’s trying to live while he can…”_

_Keith takes a deep breath._

_“Because it would be selfish… to let my stupid abandonment issues… stand in the way of Shiro’s dream…”_

_Shiro feels his heart crack as silent tears start rolling down his own face._

_The memory changes and Keith’s walking outside the Garrison sometime later._

_Shiro sees one of the older cadets grab Keith’s collar and throws him against a wall between buildings._

_“If it isn’t Shiro’s little charity case!” the bully taunts as he and his two bigger friends corner Keith._

_“Can’t you people just leave me alone?” Keith asks. “I wasn’t bothering you.”_

_The bully punches Keith in the stomach so hard, Shiro takes a step forward out of impulse._

_Keith lets out a grunt of pain and moves like he’s going to drop to his knees, but before Keith’s knees hit the ground, the same bully grabs Keith’s hair and yanks it back so that the back of Keith’s head hits the wall._

_Another bully leans into Keith’s ear._

_“Your existence bothers me... and now your “Great Protector” is gone...”_

_“What’s your point?” Keith spits out._

_“The longer he’s gone; the more we’re going to kick your worthless ass!”_

_Shiro takes another step toward them, feeling his heart crack even more as he watches them beat the daylights out of Keith._

_Yet… Keith never fights back.  
_

“Come on, Keith, fight back!!” Shiro yells.

_Keith shrinks into himself to protect his organs and just lets them kick his ass._

_Shiro drops to his knees in tears as he watches._

“Why aren’t you fighting back?!” 

_Suddenly, Griffin walks by._

_“What the… HEY!!”_

“Oh thank god!” Shiro cries.

_Griffin pulls the three bullies away from Keith and plants himself between them._

_Keith falls to the ground and doesn’t move._

_“Griffin? Since when do you care if he gets his ass kicked or not?” one of the bullies asks._

_“Since right now,” Griffin tells them. “Now get lost before I call Iverson!”_

_The bullies run away but Shiro only cares about Keith as he tries to pick himself up._

_“Keith, what the heck!? Why didn’t you fight back?!_ _” Griffin asks as he pulls Keith’s arm over his shoulder and helps him back to their dorm._

_“Not worth it…”_

_“What does that mean?” Griffin and Shiro ask at the same time._

_Keith lobbies a glare at Griffin._

_“You know damn well if I so much as lay a finger on them in self-defense, they’ll run crying to Sanda and I’ll get expelled,” Keith explains._

_Keith looks away._

_“I promised Shiro I’d still be here when he gets back… that won't happen if I've been expelled for fighting...”_

_“Ok, but if they murder you before he gets back, how do you think he’s going to feel about that?” Griffin asks._

_“What other choice do I have, James?!” Keith asks._

_“Tell someone,” Griffin suggests._

_“Who?!” Keith asks. “Who can I tell that will care?! Shiro’s the only person who gave a damn about anything I said.”_

_The next several memories show Griffin escorting Keith wherever possible. He sees the Garrison start holding Keith up as their new Golden Boy. During this time, Keith and Griffin are dating._

_Then Pilot Error happens._

_The memory changes again, this time it's after Keith has been expelled._

_He sees Keith at the shack looking completely lost. He's curled up on the couch in his shack like he did in his dorm after the Kerberos Launch._

_“Maybe I’m the one that’s wrong…” Keith mutters to himself. “Maybe Shiro IS dead like they said… Does that mean I would see him again if I died?”_

_Shiro’s own heart snaps in two._

“How deep does this go? How much have I failed him?” 

“No more than the rest of the world…”

 _Shiro recognizes the voice instantly as the memory fades._

_~_

He’s on a path with a red nebula around him. It looks a lot like the Infinite Void where Shiro was stuck for God knows how long.

He looks down at himself and he’s in his Paladin armor, but with a solid right arm where his prosthetic would be.

Shiro looks around some more and finally spots the man standing not far from him.

“Adam.”

“Ok... now before you yell at me Takashi, let me explain,” Adam begins nervously.

“What’s to explain?” Shiro asks angrily. “Seems pretty self-explanatory. You set up a 17 year old boy to be expelled.”

“To protect him!”

Shiro raises an eyebrow at him.

“Say what?”

“You saw the memory of Keith getting his ass kicked after you left for Kerberos, right?”

Shiro nods.

“After you were declared dead; it got worse.”

“How worse?” Shiro asks with a frown. “I know everyone turned on him, but how bad was it?”

“Like 10 times worse,” Adam tells him. “And it wasn’t just cadets anymore… officers were starting to talk about getting in on it too, I’m pretty some already were. Officer Griffin and I would try to protect him whenever possible, but we couldn’t be everywhere, especially when he was determined to defend your name.”

Adam takes a deep breath.

“I got him expelled because if he stayed at the Garrison any longer, he would have been killed. I pitched the idea to use a Kerberos simulation.”

Adam looks at the ground.

“The way they looked as I proposed the plan… they seemed to derive some form of... sick pleasure out of the prospect of completely ruining a 17 year olds’ life.”

“Iverson said you regretted it until the day you died.”

“Because my intention was to get him expelled with as little emotional trauma as possible,” Adam explains. “If I’d known it would have triggered an emotional meltdown, I wouldn’t have suggested it.”

“What was your intention?”

“To get him angry enough to argue with me over it and then throw a punch at me,” Adam explains. “The punch was the crucial point. I knew from our numerous arguments over whether or not you were dead that Keith had no issues trying to throw a punch at me when he was angry enough. Before that I would just block the punch and send him to his quarters to cool off. That day I just let him hit me.”

“ ** _Let_ ** him hit you?”

“He has a mean right hook.”

Shiro snorts.

“Ok, so you were trying to save his life,” Shiro says acceptingly. “I’ll admit I was hoping it was something like that. I’m sorry I thought it was anything but…”

Adam just shakes his head.

“Don’t be. I knew when I decided to play the bad guy that you might view me as such if it turned out he was right about you being alive. It did so of course… you did.”

“So why are you here?” Shiro asks.

“To help.”

Adam takes a deep breath.

“And to give you some closure. I’m sorry for how we left things, Takashi.”

“I’m sorry too, Adam,” Shiro tells him with a deep breath of his own. “I know you were trying to take care of me like you always did.”

Shiro smiles at him.

“It’s why I fell in love with you in the first place.”

“Yeah, but I was so focused on taking care of you that I didn’t realize I was smothering you in the process,” Adam tells him.

"To be fair, I was only focusing on what I wanted, regardless of the consequences," Shiro admits. "It's something I've been realizing lately. Also, we wanted different things. You wanted forever. I could only live in the moment."

“Still, let me make up for it by helping to save your future.”

“How?” Shiro asks.

“By doing this.”

Adam motions and Allura, Pidge, Lance, and Hunk fade in. All of them are in tears.

Like Shiro, everyone is now in their Paladin armor.

“I’m guessing you guys ended up in Keith’s memories too,” Shiro states.

“It was awful!!” Allura tells him. “I saw Keith with his father and after Keith’s father died.”

“I saw him getting bullied…” Pidge says. “And his investigation into Kerberos’ disappearance. I’m actually kinda impressed, he found better evidence then I did.”

“I saw him all throughout school. Half the shit he’d get in trouble for I could see wasn’t intentional,” Lance states. “Like you know how sometimes when he was on the training deck doing one on one with the gladiator we’d have to turn the lights on and off a few times or pause the training to get his attention?”

The other Paladins nod.

“Apparently, that’s been a thing his whole life. Instead of finding a work around like we did, everyone else just assumed he was ignoring him and would get pissed. Also, apparently the way he rarely looks people in the eye has always been a thing.”

“Did you guys know loud noises scare him?” Hunk asks. “Like literally things like thunder, the fire alarm, the school bell, even little things like the sound a chair makes on a hard floor when you push it back.”

“He was also hella smart as a kid,” Pidge adds. “He was reading books about the Space Race and John Glenn when he was in second grade.”

“Oh my god, I forgot about the space thing!” Hunk exclaims with a grin. “Literally his whole room before his dad died was covered with either rocket ships or jets or stars.”

“So was all of his school stuff,” Lance adds.

“His temper was volatile even as a child as well,” Allura points out. “Moreso when he was upset.”

“Wait a minute..."

Lance starts listing everything they saw together with what they already know about Keith.

"Difficulty making and maintaining eye contact, difficulty recognizing and understanding social cues, sensitive to loud noises like thunder and specific noises like the sound of a chair being pushed back, an obsession with a single topic, extremely volatile temper that gets worse under situational or emotional stress…”

Lance gasps. 

“Oh my God…”

“What?” Shiro asks him.

Lance is quiet for a moment as he paces, everything suddenly snapping into place. 

He stops and looks at them.

“Keith has a Spectrum Disorder.”

Pidge, Hunk, and Shiro’s eyes widen.

“How do you know?” Pidge asks.

“Because Veronica ALSO has a Spectrum Disorder. So do my niece and nephew. It kinda runs in our family."

“I never would have guessed,” Shiro comments in surprise.

“That's because my family had the resources and the knowledge to get her diagnosed early enough as a child so she would get the extra help she needed to live a relatively normal life just like they did with me and my dyslexia,” Lance explains. “From what we all saw, Keith likely didn’t have that so he never got diagnosed and therefore never got the help he needed.”

Suddenly, everything makes sense.

“I thought it was because of the trauma from foster care and losing his dad,” Shiro says thoughtfully with a hint of guilt in his voice.

Lance puts a hand on Shiro’s shoulder.

“You’re not the only one,” Lance points out. “I think that’s another reason why he was never diagnosed; everyone assumed it was caused by something else. Most people assumed he was a troublemaker or stubborn, you thought it was trauma, his dad probably assumed it was all because he was part alien; but not one time did anyone think he _might_ be neuro-divergent.”

“Though if he is on the Spectrum, his trauma probably made it worse,” Hunk points out.

“What is a Spectrum Disorder?” Allura asks.

“It's an umbrella term for the different disorders that fall under the Autism Spectrum. They’re neurological disorders that affect the way the person communicates, behaves, or interacts with others.”

“Veronica has Asperger’s, but I think Keith might have Autism like my niece and nephew,” Lance comments before explaining. 

“Makes sense now that you’ve pointed it out,” Adam remarks.

All five of them jump and look.

“How long has he been standing there?” Pidge asks.

“Long enough to know none of this realization will matter if Keith dies,” Adam reminds them.

Their eyes all widen before Pidge quickly pulls up the computer on her wrist.

“I’m picking up Keith’s signature in that direction,” Pidge says pointing.

“Just a warning, you’ll probably see more of his memories as you go along,” Adam warns them. “Some of them you might not like.”

“Are you not joining us?” Allura asks.

“My job is done,” Adam tells them.

“Good-bye Adam,” Shiro tells him amiably.

“Good-bye Takashi,” Adam tells him. “Oh and one more thing. If it wasn’t destroyed, among my stuff is a journal. Takashi, if I know you the way I do, you’re going to need that journal.”

Shiro gives him a smile.

“Let’s go!” Shiro says as he turns and walks in the direction Pidge pointed.

The others raise an eyebrow at him as they walk.

“I’ll explain later.”

~

As they walk, they start to see quick flashes of memories, some of them they recognize.

Now that they’re looking at them with the knowledge that Keith may have autism; so many things now make sense.

They see many events through Keith’s eyes, including the aftermath of Shiro’s disappearance. They see Lance accusing Keith of lying when he accidentally blurts out that Shiro wanted him to succeed him. On top of everything that was happening, everything that was said and how much Keith absolutely did not want to lead, now they understand why he had a meltdown the first time he tried to lead them against Lotor.

What they hadn’t known was how, even when Keith seemed ok, even when it looked like he had calmly accepted the role of leader when he was with them, behind closed doors, he was having meltdown after meltdown from all the sudden changes in their routine plus the stress of leadership and his grief at missing Shiro.

“Guys, I just realized something,” Hunk says. “You know how we all comforted Shiro when we thought Keith was dead?”

Everyone nods.

“Where the quiznak was that for Keith when Shiro “disappeared”?! Where the quiznak were we when Keith needed our support?”

None of them have an answer, but they know he’s right.

Things got a little better when they found Shiro’s clone, but when Keith tried to give the mantle of leadership back, the Black Lion had of course refused since the Lion knew it was a clone, so Keith remained her pilot. However, now that they thought Shiro was back, the other Paladins automatically start taking the clone’s judgment over Keith’s.

This causes Keith to start doubting his abilities as a leader and since only the clone tried to encourage and support him, it ultimately made him hate leading more.

Keith started to spend more and more time with the Blades, partially to learn about the Galra beyond Zarkon, but also because he genuinely felt like they were better off without him. 

They see him try and fail again to give the mantle of leadership back until the clone is finally forced to take up the mantle of leadership and form a bond with the Black Lion when Keith doesn’t return from a mission with the Blades on time.

They then watched Keith return from that mission and then leave to join the Blades from his perspective.

“The weight and stress of being the leader was crushing him,” Pidge observes tearfully.

“On top of Shiro “disappearing” and the sudden changes it caused,” Hunk adds.

“Not to mention the way we immediately jumped ship back to Shiro’s leadership whenever Keith made a judgement call when we thought we had Shiro back,” Lance adds.

“He did not know how to handle it… So... he did it the only way he knew… He ran,” Allura concludes.

“He thought it was because he was a terrible leader but it wasn’t,” Pidge continues. “He was just overwhelmed and really needing our help but didn’t know how to ask.”

“And none of us saw it until he was suddenly disappearing with the Blades,” Hunk adds. “Even if none of us knew he had autism; it was still obvious he was doubting his abilities as a leader. No one except the clone even tried to encourage him.”

"Keith wasn't a terrible leader..." Lance concludes. " ** _We_** were terrible teammates."

Shiro realizes then that he was literally the only one of them who knew Keith’s tells that he needed help.

Yet he did nothing to teach the others how to spot them.

They see Keith with the Blades and the missions they went on. They see Keith curled in his quarters on one of the Blade ships watching their Voltron on Ice show with a wistful little smile on his face.

As they continue to move, the memory changes and they’re with Keith inside a Galra fighter.

_“Follow my lead!” Keith tells the rebel fighters. “We’ve got to break through that shield!”_

_His fighter suddenly takes a hit as the rebels open fire on the shield._

“I remember this! This was Naxela!” Allura says.

_They see Matt appear on Keith’s dashboard._

_“We’ll never penetrate those shields!”_

_Keith thinks for a moment before saying._

_“Maybe not with our weapons…”_

Shiro's blood turns to ice.

“No…”

 _“Wait! Keith, what are you doing?!” Matt exclaims._

_Keith maneuvers the fighter back away from the shield. Then he turns the fighter directly at the cruiser’s shield._

“NO!” Shiro yells as they all realize then what he’s about to attempt.

_“Keith, no!”_

_Keith pushes the throttle to maximum speed._

_They see him close his eyes but they can hear his thoughts loud and clear._

_‘I’m sorry… this is the only way…’_

_Right before Keith hits the shield, a blast from an incoming ship cuts through the shield and destroys the weapon._

_Keith immediately realizes what happened and pulls back on the throttle before piloting away from the cruiser._

“Remind me to give Lotor the biggest kiss when we get back…” Lance says.

“Dude, same!” Hunk remarks.

“I didn’t know he nearly killed himself in that battle,” Pidge says clearly shaken.

Soon they see a memory of Matt confronting Keith as he gets out of his fighter.

_“Keith, what the quiznak was that?!”_

_“It was the only way we had to get through those shields.”_

_“Not the point!! How the quiznak would I have told my sister that you died taking out those shields so we could destroy that weapon?!”_

_Keith looks at Matt._

_“I would think the fact that you would still have a living sister to tell would be more important.”_

_Keith pulls his hood up and begins to walk away._

_“And what about Shiro?!”_

_Keith stops in his tracks._

_“What do you want, Matt? An apology? For me to say I regret what I almost did?”_

_Keith looks at him._

_“Because you're not getting either. I’m not sorry I almost sacrificed my life to saving them and I definitely don’t regret it. Even if I knew Lotor wouldn’t have been there, I would have gladly done it. In a heartbeat.”_

_“Is this what the Blades are teaching you?! That needlessly sacrificing yourself is a good thing!”_

_“No. It has nothing to do with the Blades and it wasn't needless.”_

_Keith turns to leave._

_“Why then!? Why do you care so little for your own life?”_

_Keith whips back around and shouts back._

_“Because no one would miss me!”_

The silence is deafening.

“Would it have even worked?” Shiro asks Pidge.

“That’s the worst part of this…” Pidge tells them in tears. “Yes… it would have.”

Everyone looks at her then.

“In our time working alongside Lotor and the Galra, I did what I do best and compiled data examining the strengths and weaknesses of Galra tech, including their shields. It’s how we’ve been able to take out their defenses so easily.”

Pidge wipes her face as she continues.

“And one thing I noticed is while their shields are remarkably durable at deflecting most energy attacks, they are extremely weak against explosions set off by a physical mine; which is essentially what Keith’s ship would have become when it hit the shield. It's like they were so focused on protecting themselves against energy explosions, they forgot solid objects existed.”

“Keith undoubtedly knew that because of his work with the Blades,” Allura surmises.

“So it would have worked,” Hunk concludes for her. “But at a heavy cost.”

_“This isn’t about them, is it?”_

_Matt's voice now gentler and no longer yelling._

_“Not entirely…" Keith admits. "Every single one of them has family or someone who would miss them. Lance and Hunk both have huge families, Allura has Coran, Pidge has you and your parents, and Shiro has an ex-fiancé who has probably realized by now that Shiro’s alive. Not one person would even care if I didn’t come back. I’m expendable.”_

Shiro feels the air get sucked out of his lungs.

 _"Keith, my sister would be_ **_crushed_ ** _if you died. It would_ **_destroy_ ** _Shiro, especially since it was his oversight that put you in the position to make that decision.”_

 _Keith walks away._

_“I’ve already lost one family, Matt. I’ll gladly die before I lose another…”_

“I understand…”

They look at Allura as she continues.

“I... would grieve his loss terribly, but… I share the same sentiment about all of you. I already lost everything once. I would hate to go through it again with all of you.”

“Let’s keep moving,” Hunk suggests.

~

As they continue down the path, they see other memories they don’t recognize.

When Shiro sees Krolia teaching Keith how to bear the weight of leadership during their time on the space whale, it hits Shiro that he had done nothing to prepare Keith for the task he had asked of him. Just because someone is _capable_ of being a born leader doesn’t necessarily mean they know **how** to bear that weight, especially given Keith’s self-esteem issues at the time.

They see him meeting Romelle and the moment he comes back.

Then the clone goes nuts and Keith confidently accepts the mantle of leader once more.

They all see Keith’s fight with Shiro’s clone. They see Keith trying to get through to Shiro the same way Shiro was trying to get through to Keith during their fight. Then the clone has Keith flat on his back fighting to keep the sword on Shiro’s hand from killing him.

The pain from the plasma sword burning Keith’s face coupled with the stress of the situation causes Keith's Galra genetics to kick in; giving him the strength to cut Shiro’s Galra arm off.

After that they see a rush of other images including the fight against Lotor until they get to one where they’re heading back to Earth.

Then they see what looks like a dream. 

In it, Keith is standing in the red quintessence field they are when suddenly he starts sinking into a pool of blackness. He tries to fight it but ropes of darkness wrap around him and begin to pull him in and smother him. After it completely covers him, he wakes up.

The same dream repeats again and again several more times.

Allura gasps.

“Visions! Keith was having visions warning him of his corruption,” Allura exclaims. “On Altea, only those sensitive to quintessence and with the potential to perform alchemy had such visions!”

“Come to think of it, Keith _was_ manipulating what looked like quintessence in his fight with Lotor,” Pidge recalls.

“Could Keith be part Altean?” Lance asks.

“It would explain why he’s so sensitive to quintessence.”

When they go through images of Keith having Lance lead the team, Shiro immediately thinks of when Keith told Lance to lead the other Paladins while he went with his mom onto the space station and gasps at the realization.

Keith was training Lance to lead them.

He was preparing Lance to eventually take the burden that he hadn’t been prepared to take.

Then they see when they were lost in space through Keith’s eyes.

“Holy crow, he really was seeing something attack us!” Lance remarks.

On a whim, Pidge scans his quintessence and gasps.

“This must be when the corruption started!”

Then they go through memories of everything that happened when they got to Earth.

As Keith is moving to leave with Griffin for his drop point, he stumbles and clutches his chest for a moment before quickly recovering.

Pidge quickly runs her scan on him again.

“The corruption was starting to poison his heart at this point,” she tells them.

Shiro realizes.

“That’s why his heart kept stopping after he fell to Earth after the robeast explosion. It wasn’t the fall… it was the corruption.”

There are more flashes of memories as his corruption grows worse. Every time a Galra refused to work with them because of Keith, every time a Garrison crew member refused to respect his authority or trash talked him, every time he made a mistake or saw the red things, the corruption would spread faster and faster until it started affecting his health. 

Then they see Lance helping Keith return to his quarters on the Atlas.

As soon as Lance leaves, Keith cries out in pain and grips his chest before collapsing to the floor and blacking out.

He’s awakened by Kosmo whining at him and licking his face.

“I’m ok, boy…” Keith soothes.

Pidge has tears in her eyes when she scans him again. None of them are at all surprised to see the corruption has completely blackened Keith’s heart and lungs.

“This must be right before I scanned him. They’re exactly the same.”

Lance looks at the calendar and clock in Keith’s quarters and gasps.

“This was right after the briefing I told you guys about. When I walked him to his quarters.”

They watch Keith during the explosion on the space station and his subsequent capture when Pidge’s computer gives her an alert.

“Keith’s signal is right up ahead!”

“Come on!” Lance leads them. “We may have failed him before but we won’t fail again.”

They start running toward the signal.

“Lotor said the rift creature will have taken the form of the thing Keith hates the most,” Allura reminds them as they get closer.

The moment they see Keith they all gasp in horror when they see the form the creature has taken.

 **_Himself._ **

“The thing he hates most… is himself?” Hunk asks tearfully. “Why?!”

“He thinks he’s to blame for every single bad thing that’s ever happened to him or the people he loves,” Shiro states sadly. He’d been right. Keith really does think his existence warrants an apology, and the truth of it breaks Shiro’s heart.

“I am more concerned about where they are standing at present!”

Allura points.

Keith is standing at the edge of the platform they’re on over a great black abyss. The creature with Keith’s face is standing right behind Keith with its head on Keith’s shoulder talking in his ear.

Unlike them, Keith is only in the Paladin under armor while the creature with his face is wearing his full armor.

They can hear every word it's saying.

“Come on, it’s easy. Just end it. Jump. We both know you want to. You and I both know you’d be doing everyone a favor. We all know what a burden you are, how you always end up ruining every good thing you have just by existing. You are a mistake and everyone knows it. No one wants someone as broken and scarred as you. They're better off without you. Are you so selfish that you would force them to endure your pathetic existence?”

Keith is standing on the edge in tears, but he isn’t fighting back.

“Why doesn’t he fight back?!” Hunk asks.

“Because this is a demon he’s lived with most, if not all his life…” Pidge tells them knowingly.

“And one he’s likely been fighting the entire time, but none of us knew,” Shiro adds.

“What makes you both say that?” Lance asks.

Pidge sighs.

“Because we both know what it’s like to have our own body try to kill us…”

Pidge absentmindedly touches her chest before continuing.

“For me, it was my heart that was trying to kill me… for Shiro, it was his body. For Keith… it’s his own mind trying to kill him…”

“The rift creature didn’t create this problem,” Shiro adds sadly. “It just gave it a face.”

“That’s probably the other reason he didn’t tell us he thought he was dying,” Pidge continues softly. “He’s tired of fighting this on his own, but the Spectrum Disorder he never knew he had coupled with everything he’s lived through has been stopping him from asking for the help he needs.”

“He doesn’t want to die,” Shiro concludes. “He wants it to stop hurting.”

“Then let us make it stop hurting!”

Allura pulls out her bayard before yelling.

“Hey!”

Both Keith and the thing with Keith’s face look back at them.

Before they can do anything, the thing shoves Keith off the platform.

“NO!”

Allura wraps her whip around the creature and yanks it away from the edge as Shiro dives after him and grabs hold of Keith’s left hand with his left hand; his right hand grabbing onto the edge of the platform at the last second.

He holds tight to Keith’s hand as the younger man looks up at him.

“What are you guys doing here?!"

“We came to save you Keith. All five of us.”

“How did you even get here?!”

“No time to answer that!” Shiro tells him. “If we don’t get you up to that platform, you’ll die.”

He struggles to pull Keith up to the platform, like an arm curl from hell. Before he can get Keith even close to the platform, Shiro’s prosthetic hand slips.

Shiro just pulls Keith into himself as they fall.

“What about you?!” Keith asks. “You have a jetpack! Save yourself!”

“My life has no meaning… unless you’re in it, Keith.”

Keith is stunned speechless as he looks at Shiro.

“You once told me how if it wasn’t for me, your life would have been a lot different. Well, the same is true for me, Keith. Even before Kerberos.”

Shiro cups Keith’s face.

“From the moment we met, you have been nothing but a shining light in my life. You have done nothing but believe in me and support me, even if it came at a great cost to you. Then after Kerberos… after my capture…you were always there for me; protecting me, supporting me, encouraging me, believing in me…”

Shiro presses their foreheads together.

“Loving me. Then I died and you brought me back… you were still right by my side taking care of me and supporting me…”

Shiro takes a breath.

“And I took you for granted.”

Shiro closes his eyes.

“If what I just went through is even a small fraction of what you felt, I’m so sorry…”

“Shiro…”

Shiro opens his gray eyes and looks into Keith’s purple ones as he holds Keith’s hand over his heart.

“I love you, Keith… Your fight is my fight… your pain is my pain… Your support and love has been helping me fight my demons from the moment I crashed back on Earth…”

Their heads slowly drift together.

“Let me help you fight yours.”

It’s Keith who closes the distance and presses their lips together in a kiss that ignites a fire in both of their veins.

As Shiro eagerly presses back against Keith’s lips, he feels a weight in his hand and a warmth in his chest that erupts in a blinding white light.

When the light fades, they’ve stopped falling.

As they pull apart and Shiro holds Keith tight against him, he becomes aware of a tug on his back. When Keith looks over Shiro’s shoulder in wonder, Shiro glances over his shoulders to see a shining pair of blue wings have appeared on his back.

That’s when Shiro notices the Blue Bayard in his hand.

“Wings… Your bayard upgrade is wings…”

Shiro looks adoringly at Keith as he uses his wings to fly them back up to the platform where Keith immediately drops to his knees with Shiro kneeling at his side.

They look up and see the other Paladins are still fighting the creature with Keith’s face. Lance, Pidge, and Hunk are all using their bayard upgrades.

“You think this will mean anything to him?”

The thing has the sword of Keith’s bayard locked with Lance’s Altean broadsword.

“He is broken! Stupid! Useless!”

“Keith was never broken or stupid!!” Lance yells back. “He was different and needed help and no one noticed!”

They disengage and the thing moves to attack Lance again.

“He is weak and a coward! Always afraid of everything!”

Hunk fires at it with his blaster.

“Hey! Being afraid of everything doesn’t automatically make you a coward! Keith has been living in constant fear because his ears let him hear things others don’t even notice! That’s not cowardice! That’s bravery!”

It attacks Hunk, but Pidge’s twin grapples wrap around it and deliver a powerful shock that stops it in its tracks.

“Not to mention he has _you_ in his brain feeding him the same string of bullshit he’s likely been hearing his whole life! Yet, he’s still fighting, even after everything you’ve put him through. That’s not weakness! That’s strength!”

“He is selfish!”

It rushes Pidge.

Allura’s whip wraps around it from the other side and holds it in place.

“Keith is the most selfless person I have ever met! He is always giving, always willing to sacrifice everything he has to do what is right, even if it means protecting people who do not deserve his protection!”

Keith listens to it all and feels the same warmth growing in his chest as he did before. He looks up at Shiro.

"We all love you, Keith," Shiro tells him. "Myself most of all."

Keith closes his eyes and focuses on the feeling coursing through his veins, letting the feeling grow stronger and stronger.

A white light begins to shine from the center of his chest as Keith opens his eyes and stands; ready to fight once more. Shiro stands behind him, his right hand around Keith’s waist, and his left hand on top of Keith’s.

Keith laces his fingers with the ones on Shiro's prosthetic and focuses the warmth down his left arm into his hand.

It quickly forms a sword that immediately lights on fire beneath their two hands.

Keith’s light shines bright enough to draw the attention of the other Paladins who then move to give him an opening.

“It’s time for you to go!” Keith tells it.

Shiro uses his wings to help Keith rush toward the thing with his face and together they shove the blazing sword straight through it.

The white light envelopes them all as the creature is annihilated.

~

Back in Atlas’ medbay, all five of them open their eyes and sit up before turning toward Keith’s pod as it opens.

Shiro moves to sit on the side of the pod as the others take off their mindmeld devices.

He leans down and closes his eyes as he gently brushes his lips across Keith’s.

“Finally!” Matt exclaims, walking off while the others all watch.

Shiro ignores him.

Nothing else matters to him except the man whose lips are starting to move against his own.

Shiro pulls back and when he opens his eyes so does Keith. They exchange a smile as Shiro pulls back further.

“It’s good to have you back, Keith…”

“Good to be back.”


	13. Resolutions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While Keith recovers from his ordeal with Honerva, Lotor and Shiro get new arms, everyone finally talks, and we learn how Shiro met Commander Holt.

Keith stays in medbay for three days after that, during which Lotor and Shiro are given new prosthetic arms, courtesy of Allura and the Balmera crystals of various sizes they have stored. Once recovered from getting his new prosthetic (now with a bi-cep), Shiro resumes his captaining duties alongside Allura while working out what to do now that Shiro can fly Blue and no longer has the power to transform Atlas.

When Keith is cleared to return to his quarters, he steps off the lift to the Paladin lounge to find the other Paladins waiting for him. Unlike when he returned late from the Blade Mission; this time, he receives a much warmer welcome as they all hug him.

"Keith, It is good to have you up and about once more,” Allura tells him 

"I honestly wasn't expecting you all to be waiting for me," Keith admits. 

"We wanted to talk to you a moment in private about some of the things we saw in your memories," Pidge explains.

“You’re not in trouble, I promise,” Hunk assures him.

"Let's move to the couch," Lance suggests. 

Keith lets them move him to sit on the couch while Shiro locks the lift doors and Lance the doors leading to the hall and lift to the bridge.

Lance, Allura, Pidge, and Hunk stand in front of him as Lance speaks for the four of them.

"First of all, we owe you an apology.” 

Keith blinks at them. 

"You do? For what?" 

"We're sorry we weren't there for you more when you first became leader after Shiro "disappeared"," Pidge says. 

"It was clear how difficult it was for you and none of us gave you the support you needed," Allura adds. 

"We're also sorry we weren't more forgiving when you started spending more time with the Blades," Hunk continues. "Your confidence in your leadership abilities were waning and you needed our support and encouragement." 

Keith opens his mouth to protest but Lance cuts him off. 

"You weren't a terrible leader, Keith. **We** were terrible teammates and we're sorry." 

"I forgive you guys," Keith tells them sincerely. "It might have been obvious but I didn’t exactly make it easy for you to get close to me back then." 

"That brings us to the second reason we wanted to talk to you, Keith," Shiro says. 

"We're worried about you, Keith," Pidge says. 

"Why didn't you tell us you thought you were getting sick?" Hunk asks. "Or that the Garrison crew were being jerks to you?"

Keith sighs and looks at his hands. 

"I wanted to... but every time I would try, I'd chicken out and feel like I would be burdening you. Then I would feel guilty about NOT trusting you enough and so it became this repeating cycle of wanting help, wanting to tell you, chickening out, and feeling guilty about it." 

"We also know what you tried to do at Naxela, Keith," Shiro tells him. 

Keith looks away from them, though whether it's from shame or fear, even he couldn’t tell. 

Shiro sits beside him. 

"We're not mad, Keith," Shiro assures. "Just sad." 

"Sad?" 

"Sad you believed you were expendable," Hunk says. 

"Sad you thought none of us would miss you," Lance says. 

"We understand why it would have been necessary, but it is still sad you felt your life was less important than the rest of ours," Allura concludes. 

"Our worry is that something like this could happen again," Pidge says. "The rift creature was destroyed, Keith, but your ptsd and depression from everything you lived through as a kid wasn't.” 

Keith sighs.

"I know. Honestly I've known I needed help for some time... but whenever I tried to say something I'd... lock up..." 

"That brings us to the final reason we wanted to talk to you," Lance says. "Have you ever heard of Autism Spectrum Disorder?" 

Keith looks at them. 

"It's a group of neural disorders, right?" Keith asks. 

"More or less, yeah," Pidge confirms. 

"We have reason to believe you’re on it, based on what we saw in your memories," Lance tells him. 

Keith blinks. 

"For real? Why do you say that?"

Lance gives him a quick rundown of what they saw and how it relates to someone with ASD. He then tells Keith why he believes Keith never got diagnosed.

"I... had no idea there was a name for this..." Keith admits sounding a little stunned. 

"I'm sure this is all overwhelming," Shiro says. 

"It is a little," Keith admits. 

"I'm giving you mandatory medical leave for the next week to rest and recover from what you just went through," Shiro tells him. "Please use it to also seek help, ok?" 

Keith looks up at them. 

"I will," he promises. "Thank you guys."

They all hug him.

~

Romelle stands outside a closed door of a room on the Atlas. She looks at the number panel beside the door and down at the paper to confirm they match. Her heart pounds in her chest as she gathers her courage to knock.

When no one answers, she turns and leaves; feeling equal parts disappointed and relieved.

As she walks past a doorway a ways down the corridor, she finds Lotor in a room lined with books labeled “library”. He’s sitting on a couch inside reading something.

She hesitates a moment to steel herself before entering.

“Lotor…”

Lotor looks up and immediately sees the expression on her face.

“Romelle? Are you alright?”

“May I… speak with you a moment?”

Lotor nods, putting his book aside as she sits beside him.

“I am...sorry,” Romelle tells him after a moment while looking at her hands.

Lotor is confused for a moment.

“For what?”

“Turning everyone against you. Jumping to conclusions without giving you chance to explain.”

Lotor understands then.

“There is nothing to forgive, Romelle.”

She looks at him in surprise as he kneels in front of her so he can look in her eyes.

“Romelle, if either of us should be asking for forgiveness, it is me,” Lotor tells her sincerely.“I was the one who hid the truth from all of you. I should have explained what the issue was to the colony and worked with it to devise a solution.”

“You had good intentions,” Romelle offers.

“As did you,” Lotor informs her. “My intentions are irrelevant. Noble as my intentions were, the truth remains that I should have informed the colony, or at the very least to you, when it was revealed the witch had discovered the moon and then moved the colony to a more secure location. In my hubris, I assumed I could handle it without assistance. You all put your trust in me, but I could not do the same for you. It is only natural that you came to the conclusion that you did upon seeing your brother and then the facility, given your doubts. How could you suspect anything less? Had I been honest from the start, none of this would have occurred and the colony would not be at the mercy of the witch.”

Romelle hugs Lotor. Lotor tenses a moment before hugging her back.

“For what it is worth, I apologize for what happened to your brother,” Lotor tells her.

“Thank you.”

After a few moments, Romelle pulls away.

"Do you think we can save the others?"

"I will stop at nothing until we do," Lotor vows. "With your assistance of course."

Romelle smiles and the pair hug again.

~

_“Class, we have a special visitor,” the teacher begins in Japanese._

_He gestures to a fair skinned man with glasses standing next to him in a gray Garrison uniform with three stripes._

_“This is Commander Samuel Holt, he’s one of the senior science officers at the Galaxy Garrison.”_

_Shiro is sitting in the front row of his high school class in Japan a year after his parents’ deaths as Commander Holt gives his talk about the Garrison in perfect Japanese._

_Later that day, Commander Holt has them all try the simulators._

_Shiro hangs back and watches wistfully as his classmates try the simulator._

_“Are you going to give it a try?”_

_Shiro turns to see Commander Holt standing beside him._

_“I don’t know if I should…” Shiro tells him hesitantly. “What if I’m not very good? What if I crash the simulator? Besides, they’ll never take me anyway so why bother…”_

_“Listen, son,” Commander Holt begins. “If you get too worried about what might go wrong, you might miss the chance to do something great. Go give it a try. See if you can get past level two. Your classmates can’t seem to.”_

_As it turns out, Shiro easily gets past the third level and onto level four._

_“You’re a natural!” Commander Holt compliments. “Have you thought about joining the Galaxy Garrison?”_

_“It’s my dream, but…”_

_“He’s not healthy enough to be of use to the Garrison. If anything, he’d be a liability,” his teacher tells Commander Holt._

_Shiro crashes the simulator._

~

Keith and Acxa enter Krolia’s quarters where she sits on the couch with Kosmo.While Acxa is wearing her usual armor, Keith is wearing a red wash hoodie with jeans and high top sneakers.

“You wanted to see us, Mom,” Keith says.

“I did, yes,” Krolia says. “Sit.”

“I'm confused as to why I'm here,” Acxa admits as they sit beside her.

“I know you are,” Krolia tells her with a smile.

She turns to Keith.

“You remember the events that lead to me leaving you and your father; yes?”

“Yeah, you left to keep the Empire from finding the Blue Lion as well as Dad and me,” Keith says.

“What I did not tell you was that about a phoeb after I left, I learned I was with child again,” she tells him. “Phoebs later, I gave birth to a daughter…”

She turns to Acxa.

“But as you know, the Empire did not allow for family units.”

“Children are raised communally,” Acxa confirms.

“She was taken from me before I could even see or name her,” Krolia explains. “Since then I have been searching for many deca-phoebs for her with no success.”

“I think I know where you’re going with this…” Keith says.

“As do I,” Acxa adds.

“Apparently after I told Dr. Holt I had a daughter, she began going through the old records from the Empire we have from Riker. On a hunch, she located Acxa’s birth record, and…”

Krolia shows them a tablet with a birth record with Acxa’s name. Written above her name where it lists parents; one line is blank.

The other has Krolia written in it.

“I'm sorry I could not find you sooner,” Krolia tells Acxa.

“No, I understand,” Acxa assures her. “It is as you said; the Empire did not allow family units and you had no idea what I looked like. I have never blamed you for that.”

Acxa looks at the ground.

“Though this does explain many things.”

She realizes something.

“Such as why following my own path lead me to you. You're my brother.”

Keith smiles at her.

“To be honest, I kinda sensed it was something like that.”

“I am just happy we are finally together as a family,” Krolia says.

Keith moves to her side to hug her and Krolia opens her remaining arm to Acxa, giving her the choice.

Acxa hesitates before accepting the invitation.

~

 _“Later, Shirogane!”_

_Shiro waves as he leaves school at the end of the day._

_He turns and sees Commander Holt waiting outside the gate._

_“I was hoping I’d see you,” Commander Holt tells him with a smile. “My offer to join the Garrison still stands.”_

_“I think my teacher made it pretty clear why that’s not an option,” Shiro tells him in English._

_“So that’s it?” Commander Holt asks, switching to English as well. “You’re just going to give up on your dreams just because someone said you can’t.”_

_“What other options do I have?!” Shiro asks him angrily. “The minute the recruiting office sees terminal illness on my physical, they’ll throw my application in the trash.”_

_“Not if I’m vouching for you, they won’t.”_

_Shiro raises an eyebrow at the older man._

_“Why would you stick your neck out for me? You don’t even know me.”_

_“All I know is there’s a lot of potential in you,” Commander Holt tells him. “What’s your name, son?”_

_“Shirogane, Takashi.”_

_“My understanding is it’s not appropriate to use first names if you aren't family, married, or something to that effect, is that right?”_

_Shiro nods._

_“Shirogane’s a bit of a mouthful though. Do you mind if I call you Shiro? It's ok if you do.”_

_“No, Shiro’s fine.”_

_“Well Shiro, I look forward to working with you.”_

~

Shiro’s sitting on the couch in the Paladins’ lounge reading over some reports when the Holts find him.

“Was hoping you’d be here!” Pidge says as she hops the back of the couch to sit next to him. “We really didn’t want to have this conversation in your office.”

“What conversation?” Shiro asks, looking at them as Sam and Colleen walk to the other side of the couch with Bae Bae.

“Just gonna put this here,” Matt says as he puts a folder in Shiro’s hands before hopping the back of the couch on the other side of Shiro.

Shiro blinks and opens the folder.

His mouth drops open when he reads the top of it.

 **Petition for Adoption of Adult**

Next to where it says “Adoption of” is his name.

“You’re adopting me?!”

“If you want us to,” Sam tells him. “We still have to send the paperwork to finalize it.”

“We were talking and we decided we wanted to officially make you a Holt,” Colleen tells him.

“You’re already an honorary member,” Pidge tells him. “This is just making it official.”

“Yes! Yes I would!”

"Alright!" Pidge and Matt exclaim as they hug Shiro.

"Hey Matt! You just became the middle child!" Pidge teases.

"I dunno Pidge, Shiro's technically six so that would make you the middle child," Matt teases back.

Shiro laughs as Bae Bae jumps on him and starts licking his face.

"Mind if I keep my family name officially?" Shiro asks. "I'm the last of the Shirogane line so far as I know."

"It's your name," Sam tells him with a shrug.

“Speaking of names, I know being family lets us call you 'Takashi', but can I still call you 'Shiro' most of the time?” Pidge asks.

“Of course, Katie,” Shiro tells her affectionately. “It’ll be like me calling you 'Pidge'.”

~

Keith is walking through the ship with Acxa after leaving Krolia’s quarters.

“So… we’re siblings,” Keith comments.

“So it would seem…”

She's silent for a moment before asking.

“What was our father like?”

Keith smiles at the memory as he pets Kosmo.

“He was a bit taciturn, but he also laughed a lot,” Keith tells her. “I don’t blame him for not thinking I might have autism. Like Lance said, he probably thought it was an alien thing. He did his best with what he had.”

Keith looks at Acxa.

“I’m sorry you didn’t get to meet him.”

“As am I…”

Keith thinks for a moment.

"Here."

Keith takes off his gloves and gives them to her. 

"These were Pop's."

"But... these are yours," Acxa protests.

"I don't need them anymore," Keith assures her with a smile. "I have almost 8 years of memories with him. You deserve to have something from him too."

Acxa takes them hesitantly and puts them on before thanking him.

They reach a fork in the hall.

“Training deck is this way,” Acxa tells him, indicating one pathway.

“Observation deck is this way,” Keith tells her, indicating the other path.

Keith looks down at Kosmo.

“Wanna go with me or Acxa?”

Kosmo walks over to the path with Acxa.

“See you later… er… Sis.”

Keith watches them walk off.

“I have a sister…” Keith mutters to himself.

He puts his hands in the front pocket of his hoodie and walks down the hallway.

On his way to the observation deck he sees a couple of Garrison officers walking the other way.

“Lieutenants,” Keith greets them.

Neither of them respond, even though Keith knows they saw and heard him. Keith would have just let them go without a fuss since he _is_ off duty.

Until they opened their mouths.

“Was he in a hoodie and jeans?”

“Does he think just because he’s the captain’s pet, he can flaunt the dress code?”

Keith stops and looks back.

“Excuse me, Lieutenants.” he says sternly. “If you have a problem, say it to my face.”

“The Pet thinks he's so important you can bark at us while flaunting the uniform rules?” one mocks as they both turn and look at him.

“My reasons for dressing down are none of your business nor does it warrant any backtalk from either of you,” Keith tells them.

“Whatever, Pet.”

They roll their eyes while walking away.

As they turn a corner, they bump straight into a stern faced Shiro in full uniform.

It's clear from the look on his face that he heard the whole thing.

“C…Captain Shirogane!” 

They both snap quick salutes.

“Would you like to explain those comments to me, Lieutenants?” Shiro asks them.

“Uh… well, you see…”

“W…we were just concerned as to why Kogane…”

“ **Commander** Kogane.” Shiro corrects them firmly.

“Right, _Commander_ Kogane… isn’t in his uniform, sir.”

“It is as Commander Kogane said,” Shiro tells them. “His reasons for being out of uniform are none of your concern. If you care so much however, he’s on approved medical leave so the injuries he sustained from being captured and tortured in the line of duty can heal.”

“Y… Yes sir,” they say awkwardly.

“And furthermore, I want all of this “captain’s pet” nonsense to stop immediately.”

Shiro glances up at Keith.

“Commander Kogane has more than earned his rank.”

Shiro quickly looks back at the lieutenants before him.

“Am I clear?”

“Yes sir!”

“Since neither of you were at the meeting where we established any disrespect directed toward Commander Kogane would be met with a trip to the brig followed by a ticket home, I’m going to let the two of you off with a warning. Don’t let there be a next time. Dismissed.”

The two lieutenants all but flee down the hallway.

Shiro maintains his posture until they’re out of sight before turning to Keith.

“Are you ok?”

Keith nods calmly.

“Believe it or not, that was actually tame.”

Shiro buries his left hand into the hair on the back of Keith's neck and gently pulls the younger man closer to press his lips to Keith’s forehead.

“I’m sorry I didn’t catch that sooner…” Shiro tells him sincerely; pressing their foreheads together.

"Watching them almost piss themselves in fear more than makes up for it," Keith comments as he leans into the contact.

Shiro chuckles.

Keith takes a step back while holding Shiro’s hand.

“I’m heading to the observation deck. Want to join me?”

Shiro gives him a love-struck smile and closes his hand around Keith’s.

“I’d love to.”

Hand in hand, they walk in comfortable silence.

“So, it’s been a few quintants. How’re you doing?” Shiro asks him after a while.

Keith takes a deep breath.

“Better. One of the med crew on board is also a registered therapist who specializes in cPTSD so I’ve been seeing her for the past few quintants.”

Keith takes another breath.

“And when I get off medical leave in two quintants, I’ll be seeing her every movement.”

He looks at Shiro with a tired smile.

“Progress is slow… but I’ll get there.”

Shiro looks at Keith as they enter the observation deck.

“You're looking better. I’m glad we were able to find you the help you need,” Shiro tells him before asking. “Did you look into ASD like Lance suggested?”

“I did.”

Keith drops Shiro’s hand to lean against the railing of the deck.

“Unfortunately, I can’t get an “official” diagnosis until we get back to Earth, but “official” doesn’t really mean anything so Pidge helped me find some books and Veronica gave me a few tips that might make things easier. She also gave me these.”

He pulls what looks like a pair of ear plugs from the pocket of his hoodie.

“I’m guessing they’re more than ear plugs?”

“They’re noise-canceling ear plugs designed to filter certain sounds and frequencies while allowing me to still hear. Veronica said since our brains don’t filter out ambient background noise like someone not on the Spectrum, these will do it for us. Apparently, Veronica has a pair she keeps on her at all times that she wears whenever she’s on the bridge. She cleaned one of her spares and gave them to me.”

“That was nice of her.”

“Honestly though, I’m just happy to know this has a name.”

Keith puts them back in his pocket and looks out the window in front of him.

“It’s kinda validating in a way.”

Shiro looks at Keith and waits for him to continue.

“I kinda… always knew… that the stuff I would get in trouble for wasn’t my fault…that I wasn’t working with a full box of crayons so to speak… I couldn’t help that my ears heard ambient noise or that I would get so focused on something that I wouldn’t hear if someone called my name. I couldn’t help that getting overwhelmed either sent me into a violent rage or reduced me to a human burrito. It was just how I was made. I didn't ask to be that way, I just was...”

Keith takes a breath before continuing.

“But there’s only so many times you can be told it is before you start to wonder if it might be true; no matter how much you know it isn’t. For so long… I thought I was just a freak… that I was alone… at least I have confirmation of what I always knew... it wasn't my fault. I was doing my best with what I had... It wasn't my fault...”

Shiro wraps his arms around Keith from behind.

“I’m sorry you were ever made to believe it was.”

Shiro holds Keith tightly against his chest.

“You aren’t alone anymore, Keith. And if I can help it, you will never be alone again.”

A smile spreads across Keith's face as he relaxes completely in Shiro’s arms.

For a few tics, neither of them speak.

“I owe you an explanation…” Shiro tells Keith after a while. “And don’t tell me it's ok,” Shiro tells him when Keith looks up and opens his mouth to object. “Because you and I both know for a fact it wasn’t.”

Keith closes his mouth and waits.

“Did I ever tell you I lived in Plant City for a while as a kid?”

Keith shakes his head but doesn’t say anything.

“My mom was with the Galaxy Garrison back then. For most of my life, she’d been stationed in Japan where she and my father met and got married. My brother and I were both born and raised in Japan but at one point, she got transferred to the base in Arizona so we moved.”

“What does this have to do with why you were avoiding me?” Keith asks patiently.

“Because they were both killed in a house fire while we were still living in Plant City.”

Shiro uses his right hand to pull a news article from his pocket and hand it to Keith.

“I recognize this article,” Keith states as he reads the headline. “This is the article from…”

Keith trails off as he puts two and two together and looks up at Shiro.

“You were one of the two kids Chief told me about.”

“That was my brother and me,” Shiro confirms. “I know it was stupid, but I was afraid to tell you…”

“What happened to your brother?” Keith asks.

~

 _Shiro’s sitting on the engawa outside his room at his grandfather’s house where he and his brother were sent to live following the death of their parents. He’s leaning back against the walls of the old house that’s been in his family for generations and watches the rain fall outside._

_In his hand is a letter._

_“There you are.”_

_Ryou plops down next to Shiro._

_“Thought I’d find you here. You like to watch the rain and brood.”_

_“I don’t brood!” Shiro tells him indignantly._

_“Uh-huh…”_

_Ryou leans against him and sees the letter in his hand._

_“That letter from the Garrison?”_

_“Yep! I got in!"_

_“Takashi, that’s great!” Ryou exclaims. “So why do you look like someone shot your dog? I mean it's been your dream to go into space since you were younger than me! You should be jumping for joy.”_

_“Excited... nervous..."_

_Shiro looks at his brother._

_"I'm not really sure I can pull this off..."_

_“I know you can!"_

_"But what if someone finds out about my disease? What if they refuse to let me fly, even with Commander Holt vouching for me?"_

_Ryou grabs a pillow from inside and hits Shiro with it._

_“Hey!”_

_Shiro blocks the pillow._

_“I'm serious! What if something happens to you or Jiichan while I’m away? What if...”_

_Ryou cuts Shiro off by hitting him with the pillow several more times until Shiro falls backward on the floor._

_Ryou sits on his chest with the pillow still in his hands._

_“Are you listening now?!” Ryou asks him. “Takashi, if you think for a second that I’m going to let you talk yourself out of an opportunity like this, you’re wrong!”_

_Shiro gives him a mischievous smile as he grabs a pillow and hits Ryou hard enough to knock him off. Their pillow fight becomes play wrestling and before long they’re both laying on their backs laughing._

_“I am going to miss you though,” Ryou tells him._

_“Me too,” Shiro tells him. “What am I going to do without you there to believe in me?”_

_“Guess you’ll just have to believe in yourself,” Ryou says with a shrug._

_“Thank you for not giving up on me,” Shiro tells him._

_“You’re my brother, Takashi. I will never give up on you.”_

~

“A month into my second year, I got a letter telling me our grandfather that took us in died. Since I was still a cadet; Ryou was put into the Japanese foster care system. We were able to keep in contact with each other for a while, but I was so busy trying to do as much as I could and they kept moving him so much that by the time I finally became an officer, I lost contact with him. I’d been trying desperately to find him when Kerberos happened. Honestly, I don’t even know if he’s alive or not.”

“Apparently Dr. Holt’s good at finding people. Maybe she can help you find him or at least confirm if he was killed or not,” Keith suggests looking up at him. “She found my sister.”

Shiro raises his eyebrow at Keith.

“Sister?”

“Yeah, apparently Acxa’s my little sister.”

“Pidge is about to become my little sister,” Shiro comments.

“Feels weird to say, doesn’t it?”

“So weird! Oh my god!”

They dissolve into laughter.

Keith turns in Shiro’s arms and wraps his arms around Shiro's neck when they calm down.

“Thank you for finally telling me.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner.”

“I know that couldn’t have been easy.”

“I thought you’d be madder.”

Keith gives him an incredulous look.

“I am the last person who has _any_ right to judge you for that,” Keith tells him. “Remember, I literally **ran** **away** in the middle of the night when I simply suspected I was part Galra because I was afraid you would reject me if you knew. We're both dumbasses!”

“Still, I know I’ve put you through hell and for that I am so sorry.”

Keith just looks up at Shiro as he continues.

“I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you more like I should have been,” Shiro tells him. “You’ve always been there to take care of me. Yet it seems like every time you’ve needed me to take care of you, I failed to do it...”

“You were captured and died,” Keith tries to argue.

"So were you and yet you still made sure I was taken care of in the event you..."

Shiro still can't say it. 

"The point is that it still hurt you, Keith. Our fight in the arena made that abundantly clear.”

“You were there when it mattered the most,” Keith reasons.

Keith trails off when Shiro pulls away to put his hands on Keith’s shoulders.

“I know how you got expelled, Keith."

Keith looks up at Shiro as he continues. 

"While I’m glad to know Adam did it to protect you, it doesn’t change the fact that I should have had something in place in the event that they'd turn on you the moment I was gone. I was so focused on my dreams and what I wanted that I didn’t think it through.”

Shiro takes a shaky breath.

“I’m also sorry I made you lead Voltron when I knew you didn't want to. I’m sorry I put that burden on you; especially since it pushed you to run away from the team.”

“You didn’t do that, Shiro,” Keith says. “I was a terrible leader back then. I know the others said they were a terrible team, but I was _still_ a terrible leader.”

“That’s just it, Keith you weren’t. You were an _untrained_ leader with a team who had no idea how to spot when you needed them.”

Shiro moves his hands up to hold Keith’s face in them.

“Keith, if anyone is to blame for how rough things were for you all at first, it’s **_me_ ** . I did absolutely **nothing** to prepare you to lead so _of course_ you struggled with it. I did **nothing** to teach the others how to tell when you needed them, so _of course_ you didn’t get any help when you needed it most. I didn’t even tell them I wanted you **to** lead so _of course_ Lance questioned it. I should have known, especially given the way he was and how your relationship was back then. Just like with the attack on Rada, **I** didn’t think it through and _you_ paid the price. That’s not on you, Keith. That’s on _me_ . If anything; out of the two of us, **you’ve** proven to be the better leader.”

Shiro lowers himself to Keith’s eye level and brushes his bangs out of his eyes as Keith looks back at him with the look Lance has deemed the kicked puppy look.

“Keith, even though you desperately wanted out, you made sure Voltron would be ok fighting without you. Then, when you started suspecting you might be dying, you began _training_ Lance to lead, even before you were even sick. You gave him opportunities to lead while you were still the leader **and** you reminded him in a place where it could easily be verified, just in case someone questioned it **and** you made sure he would have the support you never got when you needed it most. Keith, you didn’t just learn from **your** mistakes. You learned from _mine_! That’s not just a good leader. That’s an **amazing** leader.”

Shiro smiles earnestly at him.

“Don’t you see, Keith? You’re such an _incredible_ leader and I could never be prouder of you.”

Keith throws his arms around Shiro's neck then with a sniffle. Shiro folds his arms around Keith's shoulders and holds him tight while he stands up straight.

He buries his face into Keith’s shoulder and breathes in deeply, silently sending a prayer of thanks to whatever power brought Keith back to him.

“I think you were right about one thing,” Shiro tells him when they finally pull away while remaining in each other’s arms. “I do need a break from leading.”

“You’re not stepping down as captain, are you?” Keith asks him, looking mildly panicked.

“Hell no!” Shiro assures him, getting a sigh of relief from Keith. “I’m still going to be captain… I’ll just be stepping back a little and having Allura take over command for a while so I can take a mental health break. I already worked out some of the details with her and higher command now that I'm a Paladin again.”

Shiro drops to his knees in front of Keith.

“As the Blue Paladin, I promise you here and now that I will give you the support and care you should have been getting from the start. You need someone under you…”

Keith interrupts with a snort as he tries to suppress a laugh.

“Get your mind out of the gutter, Keith! I’m trying to make you a solemn vow!” Shiro laughs.

“I’m sorry, continue,” Keith laughs. 

“As I was saying, you need someone… _on the team_ …” Shiro corrects with a grin, “Who not only knows you well enough to spot when you need support but who also knows the burden you now carry.”

Shiro stands then and holds Keith’s face in his left hand and caresses it with his thumb.

“I know I placed a heavy burden on your shoulders. I know because I used to bear it.”

Shiro steps into Keith’s space.

“Through it all, your support and faith helped me bear it.”

Keith’s eyes slip close as Shiro leans down.

“Let me return the favor.”

“Captain…”

“WHAT?!”

Shiro turns to see Curtis walking toward him without looking up from his datapad.

‘Oh my God, what is it now?!’ he thinks.

“I have that report you requested,” Curtis tells him while looking down at his datapad. “You said, as soon as possible.”

Shiro gives Curtis a hard look.

“Curtis. It’s called an office. I have one.”

That’s when Curtis notices Keith behind Shiro.

“Er… right!” Curtis says awkwardly as he leaves. “I’ll just… put this on your desk then.”

Shiro keeps his eyes on Curtis until he’s gone.

Keith shifts awkwardly.

“Listen, if there’s something you need t-… Mmph!”

Keith is cut off by Shiro, capturing Keith’s lips with his own. Keith closes his eyes and returns the kiss as passionately as Shiro’s giving it to him.

They pull away for a moment before Keith grabs the collar of Shiro’s uniform and pulls him back in for another kiss.

When they finally pull apart again, Shiro presses his forehead against Keith’s.

“I love you, Keith…”

“I love you too…”

Keith pulls Shiro in for another kiss.

“Takashi.”


	14. Genesis

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Coalition assault Honerva's stronghold. The fate of the White Lion and the Oriande depends on them.

The Inner Circle of the Atlas crew are all gathered in the briefing room with Lotor to discuss their next move.

“As you are all likely aware,” Lotor begins. “The gladiator arena on Pollux was not the Witch’s primary base of operations. Her primary base is in the Oriande. That is where she and the rest of the Altean colony are.”

Allura’s eyes widen.

“She has them in the Oriande?! How?!”

“Evidentially, she found its location through us when we went there. Just as she learned the location of the Altean colony.”

Shiro’s shoulders sag a little.

“From me…well, my clone, but still…”

Keith gives Shiro’s left hand a reassuring squeeze under the table.

“Hey man, it’s no more your fault than it is Keith’s,” Hunk tells him. “Both of you were victims of Honerva’s scheming. If you wouldn’t kick his butt for it, then why are you kicking your own?”

Shiro gives Hunk an appreciative smile as he squeezes Keith’s hand back.

“What of the Guardian?” Allura asks. “The defenses?”

“She found a way to bypass the defenses,” Lotor explains. “How; I am unsure but she is holding the White Lion captive. I believe she wishes to use The Guardian's quintessence for something but for what I do not know either. Furthermore, he has stolen what should only be given and desecrated what was a sacred place of knowledge and learning for eons and turned it into a place of war and destruction.”

“Well _that_ sounds like an arrangement that needs to change,” Lance remarks.

“Seriously,” Pidge agrees.

“Then we should begin planning immediately,” Allura says.

“We have received confirmation in the past few quintants that Honerva’s beasts have touched down on planets Sanook, VeXilum, Siiz, and we continue to receive more transmissions,” Coran tells them.

“This is consistent with the reports I’m receiving as well,” Veronica states.

“The wormhole signatures we’ve been detecting lately,” Pidge begins. “They form a map to where the Robeasts were headed.”

Keith frowns.

“They’re targeting multiple fronts simultaneously.”

“Why?” Hunk asks.

“ _That_ is an excellent question,” Lotor remarks.

“I just got another report from Sanook,” Veronica says. “The Robeasts are covered in some type of shield like a particle barrier.”

“They are not attacking the planet?” Allura asks.

“No.”

“Not yet at least…” Lotor states pensively.

“Go on,” Shiro tells him.

“I… believe I may know what she is planning,” Lotor says after a moment. “The Witch has created a Komar robeast magnitudes larger than anything ever seen. Something that could drain the quintessence from an entire galaxy.”

“No.”

“That monster.”

“What could she possibly need that much energy for?” Pidge asks.

“I am unsure,” Lotor admits. “I _do_ know that the robeast in question is in need of a large amount of quintessence to power it. More quintessence than any one person can give without assistance. So she sought to create a power source for it.”

He looks at Keith apologetically.

“It… is the **_true_** reason she was interested in your abilities; particularly your natural ability to absorb quintessence. She already has a means to syphon quintessence from a person and with your absorption ability, it was her intent… once she was through experimenting and stabilized your corruption… to place you into a cryo-pod and place the pod inside it as a form of self-sustaining power source to create an infinite amount of quintessence to operate it in addition to her own quintessence.”

The outrage is clear among the other Paladins.

“So basically, she was going to turn him into a self-recharging quintessence battery!” Pidge growls, voicing the outrage the other Paladins feel.

“When the Blue Lion arrived at the arena, she was forced to alter her plans temporarily to deal with it,” Lotor continues. "She did not expect you to succeed."

Keith shrinks back in his chair looking visibly uncomfortable at the thought. Suddenly, he's extremely grateful they were able to stop _that_ particular plan from happening.

Shiro discretely adjusts his hand inside Keith’s to protectively lace their fingers together.

“Glad we threw a wrench into **_that_** plan at least,” Lance states.

“Indeed,” Lotor agrees. “However, it _has_ forced her to find an alternate means to create such a power source.”

Allura catches on.

“So she means to drain these planets’ quintessence to do so.”

“Precisely,” Lotor confirms.

“We need to act immediately.” Allura states. “The only way for us to stop them is by going directly to Oriande.”

Keith gives Shiro's hand a quick squeeze before dropping it and standing up.

“Then that’s what Voltron is gonna do.”

“The Atlas will accompany you,” Allura states. “However, we do not have time to wait for the rest of the Coalition.”

Keith looks at Commander Holt.

“Contact Matt, let him know the rebels are gonna be in charge of the evacuation efforts for the occupied planets and they shouldn’t expect assistance.”

Shiro feels a little thrill of pride at watching Keith take command.

“Then we are in agreement,” Allura states. “It is time to begin our assault on the Oriande.”

~

As everyone gets into position, Allura addresses the entire Coalition.

“The universe is facing the gravest threat it has ever seen. Honerva has exploited a vulnerable people; _my people_ , and bent them to their will. She has convinced them to pilot her abominations and commit **heinous** acts and now she has built a weapon that can destroy an entire galaxy. Today, we risk our lives for the greater good. We are the only thing that can stop her and defend the universe.”

~

They wormhole the Atlas a safe distance away from the White Hole where the Oriande is located.

“The Atlas can’t go much further due to the Petrulian Zone’s radiation,” Coran says.

The Paladins and Lotor are all standing on the bridge in their armor with their helmets under their arms as they approach.

“Wait a tic, are those…?” Pidge asks.

They zoom in and gasp.

“The Olkarian Cubes?” Hunk asks. “What are they doing here?”

“I’m not picking up any energy signatures,” Iverson says. “They must not be active.”

Shiro glances at Keith and does a double take.

“Keith, your face.”

“What about it?” Keith asks him in confusion.

The rest of the bridge crew looks and gasps as well.

On his face are red glowing cheekmarks like Allura's and Corans, with two more red markings like Krolia's underneath them, one outlining the scar on his cheek.

“Are those…” Lance begins.

“ _Altean_ markings?” Hunk finishes.

“No,” Allura says in wonder. “Those are _not_ Altean.”

“They’re **Polluxian** ,” Coran adds with the same amount of wonder.

“Polluxian?” Keith asks.

“Isn’t Pollux the name of that destroyed planet where we found Keith and the Red Lion?” Shiro asks.

“It is,” Allura confirms.

“Pollux was Altea’s brother planet,” Coran explains. “The two planets’ orbits were very close to one another in our star system. Their people were almost identical to Alteans except for a second set of facial markings in addition to the cheekmarks.”

“Don’t you mean Altea’s _sister_ planet?” Hunk asks in confusion.

“Normally you would be correct, but Pollux has always been known as the brother planet to Altea,” Allura explains.

“We never understood why, it’s just how it always was," Coran remarks. "Especially since it was the only planet in the system known as such.”

“While Alteans were known for their skills as diplomats, Polluxians were renowned for their natural piloting abilities,” Allura explains.

Keith blushes when Shiro gives him a knowing smirk.

“Yep, that makes sense.”

"Polluxians had abilities similar to Alteans. However Polluxian alchemy is said to be different from Altean alchemy, much like how the planets themselves were different,” Allura adds. "While Altea had a more temperate climate, Pollux was closer to our star so it was a much warmer planet with deserts, subtropical forests, and canyons."

“That explains why it looked different when Keith was fighting Lotor,” Lance comments.

"Do you know why Pollux was destroyed?" Pidge asks.

"Sadly, I can answer that," Coran says. "Pollux is where the Red Lion was hidden. The Polluxians would have fought tooth and nail to protect the Red Lion."

“If the Mark of the Chosen is appearing on Keith’s face, that means the Guardian is still alive,” Lotor deduces.

“I’m picking something up! It’s coming from the White Hole!” Veronica states suddenly.

They see two robeasts emerge from the White Hole.

“We don’t have time to engage these robeasts,” Keith says.

“We will clear a path,” Allura tells him as she and Shiro switch places.

The Paladins run for their shoots down to the Lion hanger.

“Engaging now,” Allura tells them. “Good luck out there, Voltron.”

“Good luck to you as well, Allura,” Keith tells her.

The markings on his face are still glowing as he readies himself.

“Let’s go save that Lion.”

The two robeasts open fire on the Atlas’ shields as the Lions launch and form Voltron before heading straight for the White Hole.

The second robeast moves to attack Voltron but is stopped by the Atlas.

“Voltron is clear,” Veronica says.

“We must focus on neutralizing those robeasts,” Allura states. “Then we can attack the cubes to try and halt the process.”

~

Inside the White Hole, Voltron is moving through the debris field.

“We gotta move faster!” Keith commands. “Lance!”

“On it!”

Keith and Lance engage their bayards to create the booster pack and shoot forward toward the end of the White Hole.

Soon they have a view of the Oriande.

“Two more robeasts, incoming!” Pidge tells them.

“Form swords!"

Pidge and Lance form the swords and Voltron engage the two robeasts.

~

Back outside the White Hole, the Atlas is still fighting off the robeasts.

“Shield energy at 43%.”

They take another hit.

“36.”

Allura grunts.

“We will not make it through their blockade,” she says.

“What’s the plan?” Iverson asks.

“Launch the MFEs,” Allura says. “We have need of their precise striking abilities.”

She radios down to the hanger.

“Pilots, attack the weak spot on their chest plate when their cannon fires.”

“Copy.”

The MFEs engage the robeasts.

After a few doboshes, Allura looks and nods at Lotor who then runs for the hanger.

~

Inside the White Hole, Voltron is still battling the two robeasts.

They take a hit to the back from one and are then slammed into a piece of debris by the other.

The bayard socket in the Blue Lion opens.

“Hunk!”

“I feel it!”

They engage their bayards and Voltron fires a barrage of missiles from both legs at the robeasts.

Said robeasts try to block them but there are too many.

“Let’s move while we have the chance!”

Before they can do anything, a third and fourth robeast appear suddenly and deliver a hit so powerful, it breaks Voltron apart.

All five Lions crash in different places with the Black Lion landing on the center island with the pyramid.

~

One of the MFEs takes a hit.

“I’m hit!” Rizavi says. “Repeat, I’m hit! Recovering all systems.”

Right before one of the robeasts can slice Rizavi’s MFE in half, the Sincline intercepts the robeast.

“Pilots, I have you covered.”

“Kinkade, get Rizavi back to the Atlas safely,” Allura tells them. “Griffin, Leifsdottir, focus on taking out the robeasts.”

“Copy!”

~

Honerva looks up toward the center of the White Hole.

“It is time for Alfor’s daughter and I to have a little talk.”

Her eyes glow purple.

A purple glow envelopes Allura and she suddenly disappears off of the Atlas Bridge.

“Princess Allura!”

“Lotor! Honerva has taken Allura into the White Hole!” Coran tells him.

“No!”

Lotor goes after her in the Sincline while Griffin and Leifsdottir take out the robeasts.

He is intercepted by the four robeasts.

“Lord Lotor! You have returned to us!”

“Listen to me,” Lotor says. “You must stand down immediately. The witch is using our people.”

“No! The Empress warned us the Destroyers would turn you against us!”

Lance awakens in his Lion and sees the Sincline.

“Lotor?”

“Lance! The witch has taken Allura. You must get to her.”

“On it!”

He moves to intercept, but is taken out by a new robeast with glowing purple eyes.

The robeast moves to kill him.

“Still.” Honerva commands.

The robeast freezes in the air as Allura appears.

~

Keith groans as he regains consciousness.

“Everyone ok?” Keith asks. “Shiro? Anybody?”

Nothing.

“Black, you ok?”

He gets a tired response.

Keith pets the Lion’s console.

His attention is drawn to Honerva when Allura suddenly appears.

“Allura?!”

“Witch!” Allura says before attacking Honerva.

Honerva looks at her and everything goes black.

~

 _In Allura’s mind, she’s surrounded by darkness._

_“Altea’s wayward daughter.”_

_“Do not dare mention Altea to me!” Allura retorts._

_“This is just the beginning. Join me and our people. Together we will go back to Altea.”_

_“We cannot "go back"!” Allura tells her. “It is destroyed because of you!”_

_“Think of your father. I knew Alfor well. This is what he would have wanted. Join me and the Alteans.”_

_“I am_ **_not_ ** _my father!” Allura says, swatting at Honerva’s voice. “You cannot keep me here forever, and the moment you release your hold, I will end you!”_

_“Then you will end your friend as well.”_

_Honerva shows Allura an image of the robeast poised over the Red Lion._

_“I am the only thing keeping it at bay. Join the right side of this war.”_

~

As Keith leaves the Black Lion to help, he sees Honerva’s eyes flash purple as she looks at Allura right before Allura stops and drops to her knees. He then sees Honerva motion to a robeast and he knows what happened.

“No.” Lotor says.

He uses the Sincline to outmaneuver the robeasts and fires on Honerva, drawing her attention and forcing her to deflect the attack.

“Allura!” Keith yells before sliding his knife to her.

Allura grabs it, but before she can use it; Honerva grabs Allura by the bun on top of her head and yanks it up, forcing her hair out of the bun.

“Augh!”

“Allura!” Lotor and Keith yell.

Lotor lands the Sincline and opens the hatch to attack Honerva.

Honerva catches him with her magic and throws Lotor to the side.

“You ungrateful boy!” Honerva says. “I gave you life, I watched over you, kept your father from killing you, made you emperor, saved you from dying in the space between realities, fixed your arm, restored your ship, gave you a pet, and this is the thanks I get!”

She conjures a ball of quintessence and aims it straight at him.

“No!” Allura yells.

A murmur rolls through both the Alteans on the ground and those in the robeasts.

In the Lions, the other Paladins finally start to regain consciousness.

Shiro lifts his head.

"Blue, you alright?"

Blue gives him a 'yep' and stands to look toward the center island. From their spot, they have a clear view of the pyramid as well as the Black Lion.

He sees movement and watches Keith with his markings glowing move to help before suddenly stopping and looking up at something invisible above his head in the middle of four obelisks.

“It is time you learn some gratitude!” Honerva states.

“HEY HONERVA!”

Honerva turns toward where Keith is standing beside one of the obelisks.

“Two can play this game!”

Keith summons his railgun and aims it at the obelisk beside him.

Shiro quickly catches on.

"Hey Blue, think we can hit the one furthest from Keith?"

Shiro gets a 'I sure can!' as they aim the Blue Lion's ice ray at the said obelisk.

“No!” Honerva cries out as Keith destroys it.

Immediately a spherical prison becomes visible.

Inside the prison is a large white lion.

The Guardian.

Honerva fires at Lotor as Shiro destroys his obelisk.

Gritting her teeth, Allura uses the distraction to take the knife and cut off her own hair just below Honerva’s hand. Allura runs and jumps in front of Lotor just as Keith destroys the other one nearest to him, weakening The Guardian's prison enough for him to get free.

The Guardian leaps from the prison at Allura and reaches her seconds before the blast hits, engulfing her in a blinding white light.

When the light fades, Allura is standing with new white Paladin armor covering her body, complete with white under armour. On her head is a new pointed tiara similar to her old one with a larger Altean diamond as the center point on the tiara. On the front of her breastplate is another Altean diamond above a different looking V than the other Paladin armor. In her hand is a new White Bayard in the form of a large white lance with an Altean diamond just beneath the blade of the lance.

Everyone stares in stunned silence.

“S… she saved Lotor!” Merla says in shock, voicing what the other Alteans are thinking.

Still glowing with the Guardian’s light, Allura grips her lance like a staff and points the blade up toward the opening of the White Hole.

The Guardian shoots from it up through the White Hole, out into the Patrulean Zone, and merges with Atlas. 

The bridge crew watches in awe as the captain's posts start to glow. Soon it looks like the post from the Castle of Lions', only now it has a seat with a Bayard port.

Honerva yells in rage and fires a blast at Keith. The Black Lion immediately jumps in front of it, shielding him from it as Shiro fires at her.

While Honerva is focusing on Keith and Shiro, Merla and the other robeast pilots land with the rest of the Alteans near some ships. All but the two completely under Honerva’s control plus the ones currently stationed on other planets (also completely under Honerva’s control) board the ships and, with the robeasts, leave the Oriande.

“You have not won yet!”

Honerva signals the robeasts to syphon the quintessence of the planets the rebels are evacuating and send them to the Olkari cubes around the White Hole. They converge into a single beam that hits the top of the pyramid.

The ground beneath the pyramid begins to tremble and shake as it breaks apart.

“What’s happening?!” Keith asks as he runs to Allura as she helps Lotor up.

“She is siphoning quintessence from not just the planets but the realm itself,” Lotor explains. “We must get off this island.”

“Need a lift?” Keith asks Allura as Lotor heads for the Sincline.

He and Allura reach the Black Lion as the pyramid breaks free and floats off.

“Paladins, do you copy?”

“I'm here,” Shiro tells him.

“So are we,” everyone else chimes in as they converge on the Black Lion.

“We must get out of here or we will all perish!” Allura states.

“Let’s move!” Keith commands.

They head for the White Hole as fast as they can.

“The White Hole is closing…” Pidge says. “If we don’t get out, we’ll be trapped here forever.”

The Sincline reaches the Atlas before they do.

“Lotor! Is the Princess alright?” Coran asks.

“She is,” Lotor confirms. “She and the Paladins are on their way.”

“MFE pilots, get back on board the Atlas,” Griffin commands.

“Copy.”

“The White Hole’s energy is collapsing into a gravity surge!” Veronica states. “There’s no way we’ll hit escape velocity.”

“At this point, our only hope of escape is via a wormhole,” Coran adds.

“How long do we have?” Iverson asks.

“Minutes? Seconds? It’s impossible to tell with these surges!” Veronica answers.

“Coran, move the Atlas into position to intercept,” Iverson advises.

“Adjusting heading.”

“Sam, we need every ounce of power you can give us,” Iverson radios down to engineering.

“Pulling energy from all systems.”

A tic later the Lions come into view.

“They’re here!” Coran exclaims. “Creating a wormhole now!”

Atlas, the Lions, and the Sincline all enter the wormhole which closes behind them right before the White Hole explodes.

~

Later on board the Atlas, the Paladins and Allura are all gathered in the briefing room in their Coalition uniforms.

“What the heck just happened?” Hunk asks.

“We failed,” Allura says sullenly from a chair. “And every reality will pay the price.”

“I wouldn’t exactly call this a failure, Allura,” Keith tells her.

“Yeah, I mean, we may have lost the Oriande but we _were_ able to save the Guardian, right?” Lance points out.

“Yeah, that’s gotta count for something,” Pidge agrees from where she sits on the table behind Allura with a pair of scissors and a comb evening out Allura’s hair.

“You also just gained the means necessary to transform the Atlas when the Guardian merged with it,” Shiro adds.

“Not to mention an awesome armor upgrade complete with a sweet new crown AND a new bayard,” Hunk chimes in. “Oh, also we learned that apparently Keith is somehow descended from Altea’s brother planet!”

Allura gives them a tired smile.

“Thank you.”

Coran comes into the room then.

“Princess Allura, I think you need to see this.”

They all follow Coran down to the empty hanger they could never figure out what to do with.

Inside the hanger stands the majority of the Alteans from Romelle’s colony, complete with robeasts.

Romelle is talking to one of them when she sees Allura.

“Princess Allura! This is Merla!” 

She motions to an Altean woman with short magenta hair.

Merla greets Allura with a bow.

“Princess Allura. The rest of the Alteans from Lotor’s colony and I offer our sincerest apologies for the terrible things we have done.”

Allura smiles at Merla.

“There is nothing to forgive. You were victims Honerva exploited for her own gain.”

“We thank you for your kindness and compassion and swear fealty to you,” Merla says. 

The Paladins, Coran, Lotor, and Romelle watch on proudly as Merla and the rest of the Alteans take a knee before Allura.

“Crown Princess Allura.”


End file.
